Consumer Review Startup Nabs $73.5M

Copenhagen-based Trustpilot, a consumer review company for online shoppers, announced yesterday (May 28) that it raised $73.5 million in a Series D investment round, bringing its total investment to $118 million. The round was led by the private equity firm Vitruvian Partners. Previous investors DFJ Esprit, Index Ventures, Northzone and Seed Capital Denmark also contributed. The new capital will help Trustpilot – which grew 80 percent last year – continue its quest to conquer North America as well as expand globally.

Trustpilot, which has 30 people working around the clock, makes sure that the reviews posted on its platform for a service or product are legitimate and respectful. This is important because these comments drive purchasing decisions. “Every day more than 10,000 consumers sign up for a Trustpilot account, demonstrating the growing global trend that a brand is no longer what the company says it is; it’s what the customers say it is,” said Trustpilot Founder and CEO Peter Holten Mühlmann.

The Danish review company claims that its 13 million reviews for more than 100,000 brands increase customer retention. The valuable feedback also helps brands improve their overall product, from sales to marketing and customer services.

“Consumers increasingly recognize that peer-to-peer reviews have become essential resources. There is a huge global market opportunity for online reviews based on the desire of customers around the world to find trusted sources of recommendations in every category. Trustpilot is a technology leader and pioneer in this area, and its opportunity is to reach customers in new markets and to continue extending the benefits of online reviews to new global brands,” said Partner Ben Johnson, who will join the Board of Directors at Trustpilot.

Trustpilot’s Series D announcement is one of the highest amounts of investment generated in the history of Denmark, which ranked No. 1 out of 146 countries on Forbes’ list of Best Countries for Business.

Recently, HeyLets, which also specializes in peer reviews, raised $1.65 million in seed funding. The app nixes any reviews from users that don’t have anything in common with each other, making it easier to trust recommendations (the company only accepts positive reviews).

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