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Oh You Fancy Huh?

By Nitasha Tiku 1/18 11:50am

Oh You Fancy Huh?

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The Fancy Lets You Live Out the Ashton Kutcher Fantasy You Never Had

Have you ever had a fantasy about being like Ashton Kutcher? Ours involve the emo-induced time travel powers from “The Butterfly Effect,” but some version of “untold startup riches” or “dating Mila Kunis” are also acceptable.

New York City-based startup The Fancy* is trying a different approach. In September, the commerce-minded photo-sharing network–which lets users post pics of products and in theory purchase the items directly from the site–went the Birchbox route with a monthly subscription service. The idea being luring in users with small-scale affordable versions of the pricey, aspirational goods The Fancy tends to attract. Read More

By Jessica Roy 10:30am

Oh You Fancy Huh?

This one appears to be Brooklyn themed? (Photo: The Fancy)

The Fancy Launches Its Own Monthly Subscription Box

The Fancy*, the New York City-based Pinterest competitor where users can browse and share products they love, has decided to enter the subscription box service. We thought you were too fancy for that, Fancy?

According to a press release sent to Betabeat, The Fancy has launched its first ever monthly subscription box that is curated entirely by the crowd. A $60 value for $30/month, users can pick from their favorite categories like “Art” or “Pets” and get a box filled with some of The Fancy users’ favorite products in that category. Read More

By Nitasha Tiku 8/02/12 5:36pm

Oh You Fancy Huh?

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Kanye West Is Advising NYC Startup The Fancy on the Future of Commerce

Earlier today, New York City startup The Fancy* emailed Betabeat to let us know that “One of our favorite users stopped by the office today .” Oh, yes we’d noticed. And retweeted.

We’ve documented Kanye West’s interest in The Fancy–a fast-growing startup that turns posted photos into a consumerist’s dream–before. But what exactly was Yeezy doing palling around the office? Read More

By Nitasha Tiku 8/01/12 2:50pm

Oh You Fancy Huh?

Dennis Crowley best buy ad

Silicon Alley Socialites: Foursquare Cofounder Dennis Crowley Gets His Very Own Best Buy Ad

Blame Michael Phelps fever for our oversight, but we seem to have missed a milestone in Silicon Alley’s rise to celebrity status. This past weekend, “Breaking Bad” viewers were treated to the visage of Dennis Crowley, staring back at them from a Best Buy commercial. Best Buy released two different thirty second spots starring the Foursquare cofounder, one of which is also running during the Olympics.

Mr. Crowley, the de facto poster boy for New York’s tech scene, doesn’t shy away from the limelight. There was last year’s print ad for Gap (alongside the defoundered Naveen Selvadurai), as well as his upcoming debut in Vanity Fair. ”Have a SAG card yet?,” Deep Focus CEO Ian Schafer quipped on Twitter.  Read More

By Nitasha Tiku 7/25/12 5:00pm

Oh You Fancy Huh?

(Photo: Christian Louboutin)

Christian Louboutin Sells $1,700 Heels to Techies, But Doesn’t Understand What ‘Computer Code’ Looks Like

We should have seen this coming after New York Fashion Week’s odd obsession with QR codes. First came the Yves Saint Laurent eyeshadow in Facebook blue (helps highlight that glassy, staring-at-screens look in your eyes!). At £39, at least that’s cheaper than Christian Louboutin’s attempt at geekiness. The high-end shoe designer is offering its popular Lady Peep stiletto in a tech-inspired pattern for the fall.

There’s just one problem, besides the $1,695 price tag. The company seems to have confused “computer code” with a circuit diagram of a computer chip, according to the sales pitch on its website: Read More

By Jessica Roy 7/09/12 9:00am

Oh You Fancy Huh?

(Photo: The Fancy)

The Fancy One-Ups Pinterest with Unique Referral Codes to Reward Users for Sharing

Today, social e-commerce site The Fancy* announced that they would begin giving credit to users who curate and share products that lead to a purchase. That’s right, you can now get paid for those aspirational impulses.

A unique referral code will be appended to every item you share, and if someone purchases that product after clicking on your link, The Fancy will provide you with 2 percent of the price of the item sold 30 days after the purchase. All of your credits will be tracked and displayed on a comprehensive dashboard.

With this move, the company is basically providing a monetary incentive to become a power user. (We sense a lot of coltish, wavy-haired fashion bloggers squee-ing into their iPhones right now.) Read More

By Nitasha Tiku 6/08/12 7:23pm

Oh You Fancy Huh?

Zuckd!

U Mad, Pinterest? Mark Zuckerberg Is Now On The Fancy

This morning, billionaire Mark Zuckerberg joined high-end photo-sharing site The Fancy under the name “zuckd.” I guess you could say: fancy recognize fancy? In that time, the Facebook CEO has already amassed more than 102,000 followers. He’s also following some fellow Facebookers, such as Dave Morin, the CEO of Path, and Serkan Piantino, who will head up Facebook’s engineering office in New York. (Facebook cofounder Chris Hughes sits on company’s board.)

A few months back, we described the aspirational site as “kind of like Pinterest, but all about the money.” The Fancy is growing fast and has a plan to turn anything users share into a chance to buy.

Zuck has also registered for Twitter and Google+ and Pinterest itself, but naturally, his presence on a young site is bound to jump-start the rumor mill. Read More

By Nitasha Tiku 4/19/12 9:19am

Oh You Fancy Huh?

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Fancy, New York’s Own Pinterest Competitor, Doubled Its Users to 500K In Two Months

The last time we checked in with social commerce startup Fancy was back in February, around the time Kanye West tweeted out his approval for “My friend Joseph’s site.” The Joseph in question is ThingD founder Joe Einhorn, the wunderkind entrepreneur trying to create “the Facebook of stuff” as Ben Popper wrote in a profile of Mr. Einhorn in The Observer in 2010. (Somewhere along the way, The Fancy opted to drop the “The.”)

Like Pinterest, Fancy is focused on discovering and collecting images of things. Unlike Pinterest, which relies on affiliate marketing links, anything on Fancy can be bought. You “fancy” a thing and Fancy lets brands and retailers sign up to sell that item on the site. That photo of the Eiffel Tower, for example, comes attached to a deal for hotel nights in Paris. Read More

By Ben Popper 11/08/11 9:57am

Oh You Fancy Huh?

Gucci on The Fancy

World’s Biggest Fashion Brands Invest $10 M. in The Fancy at $100 M. Valuation

When we first wrote about Joe Einhorn’s company, thingd, it was mostly flying below the radar, and surprised the blogosphere with its all star cast of investors and board members. This week, Betabeat has learned, Mr. Einhorn will be surprising the NY tech scene a second time. The Fancy, one of the consumer facing projects under the thingd umbrella, has secured a $10 million round of financing at a valuation north of $100 million.

Interestingly, the big bucks don’t come from a typical venture investor, but from a new lead investor PPR, the $16 billion French multi-national run by Francois Henri-Pinault, which owns the globe’s biggest fashion brands, including Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Yves Saint Laurent and Balenciaga. PPR has earned a reputation for its smart, aggressive acquisition strategy and saw its stock jump after an impressive third quarter, but is little known in the tech world. Read More

By Adrianne Jeffries 11/04/11 8:00am

Oh You Fancy Huh?

Members only.

Lot18 Closes Hefty Series C; $30 Million for the Club of Fancy Things

Lot18, the New York-based, members-only deal site for oenophiles and foodies, announced a $30 million round of funding this morning, about double what was raised in its seed, A, B and B-angel rounds. Accel Partners lead the round, which included existing investors New Enterprise Associates and FirstMark Capital. “The funds will support continued growth, as well as further technological and product development, particularly the expansion of Lot18 Gourmet and Experiences, the company’s food and travel verticals, respectively,” according to a news release. Read More