New Funding Values Fab at Over $1 Billion

The Wall Street Journal 19 June 2013
Two-year-old design website Fab is now worth more than $1 billion, thanks to a $150 million venture-capital round led in part by Chinese Internet conglomerate Tencent Holdings.
Two-year-old design website Fab is now worth more than $1 billion, thanks to an investment led in part by Chinese Internet conglomerate Tencent Holdings Ltd.
China’s largest listed Internet company is contributing to a $150 million round of venture capital and will appoint a director to Fab’s board. The deal values the Manhattan-based company at about $1 billion, not including the new capital, a Fab spokeswoman said.
With Fab, Tencent could be seeking insights that could help it build out its fledgling e-commerce operations in China and compete with industry leader Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. Fab could have a lot to say about how to build an audience quickly. By combining online technology with quirky merchandising, Fab has generated rapid growth, selling its 14 million registered members—up from more than five million last July—design-centric offerings of everything from furniture and jewelry to Andy Warhol art works.
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