BeachMint secures $23.5 million for e-style

Luxury and style recommendations each month from top designers, a new kind of e-commerce

Social commerce company BeachMint announced Friday that it has raised $23.5 million in new funding led by Scale Venture Partners and Lightbank, the fund created by Groupon co-founders Eric Lefkofsky and Brad Keywell. Also participating are existing investors New Enterprise Associates, Trinity Ventures and Anthen Ventures.

The round is rumored to value BeachMint at $150 million.

Founded by MySpace co-founder Josh Berman and Diego Berdakin, BeachMint brings together personalization, professional knowledge, e-commerce and social media to offer consumers a new, fresh way to shop luxury and style.

Its first brand was JewelMint, a fashion e-commerce site that launched last October specfically focusing on jewelry. Subscribers to the site pay $29.99 per month, and in return receive personalized jewelry recommendations from actress Kate Bosworth and stylist Cher Coulter.

Bosworth and Coulter actually suggest a few different pieces, from which the subscriber chooses on their own. To get some extra advice, the subscriber can share the suggestions on Facebook and/or Twitter to fish for other opinions from friends, family and followers. Skipping a month is an option, if none of the pieces are satisfactory, and there’s no charge for that month.

Launching July 1 is StyleMint, the company’s latest style brand, dedicated to an apparel line led by top designers Mary-Kate and Ashley Olson. By the end of 2011, BeachMint plans to launch two more verticals.

"Consumer e-commerce is being transformed by social networking and curation,” said Sharon Wienbar, the managing director at Scale Venture Partners that is joining BeachMint’s board of directors.

"BeachMint is redefining online shopping by taking advantage of these trends to deliver great consumer value. We are excited by the amazing traction Beachmint has achieved in a short
time with JewelMint."

The new funding will be used to develop growth of BeachMint’s current brands, JewelMint and StyleMint. The company’s also hiring, with eight open positions right now for various positions from viral marketing coordinator to customer care representative.