SAN FRANCISCO — Visual search engine Pinterest, Inc. (Pinterest) this week announced it has filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) relating to a proposed initial public offering (IPO) of shares of its Class A common stock. The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined.

According to The Verge, Pinterest, which launched in 2010, generates revenue by attracting advertisers to its platform where users create boards in which they self-identify their interests. Advertisers try and sell the products that closely match user interests. According to Pinterest, more than 250 million monthly active users have created more than 4 billion boards with a cumulative 175 billion pins saved. The platform itself has processed more than 2 billion searches, many of which Pinterest attempts to visually process using machine (ML) learning-based methods like object and image recognition. Last quarter, the Pinterest rebuilt their infrastructure behind its “product pins.” This update brought to their app current pricing with stock information for all product pins to monetize their platform with new advertisers.

The Verge also reported such an influx of money could drastically shake up the Bay Area landscape by creating waves of new millionaires, a capital injection that could reshape San Francisco and, as a result, the tech industry itself due to the ripple effects it could have on new startups and investments.

— Sources: Pinterest and The Verge

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