About Darby Smart
Darby Smart is an Education company based in San Francisco (United States) founded in 2013, and was acquired by Grove in April 2019. How-to videos on DIY and lifestyle topics are crowdsourced online. It operates in the Education, Retail, and Media & Entertainment sectors. Darby Smart has raised $7.3 million across 2 funding rounds from investors including Creative Artists Agency, Grove Collaborative and Forerunner Ventures. The company has 12 employees. The company was acqui-hired. Its focus areas include Consumer, Social Platforms, Horizontal and Video Sharing. Its legal entity is DARBY SMART, INC. Its competitors include YouTube, Triller and TikTok; 2 of its 3 listed competitors have raised funding.
Company details
Darby Smart is an online crowdsourced platform providing how-to-do videos on topics such as beauty tricks, DIY projects, easy recipes, kids ideas, gardening, holiday and partying. Its mobile app allows users to film and edit videos and share with the community. Its current revenue is generated from video creation of product catalog and video shoots showcasing the use of products. Darby was earlier an online retailer working with designers of DIY accessories, fashion products, and home items but now has pivoted to this new business model.
- Headquarters San Francisco, United States
- Employees 12
- Stage Acquired
- SectorsEducationRetail Media & Entertainment
- Email••••••••
- Website darbysmart.com
- Social LinkedIn X Facebook
- Acquired by Grove (Apr 2019)
- Legal Name Darby Smart, Inc.
- Total Equity Funding$7.3M (USD)
in 2 rounds
- Latest Funding Round$6.3M (USD), Series A
May 2014
- InvestorsCreative Artists Agency
& 5 more
- Employee Count12
- Acquired byGrove
(Apr 2019)
Funding Insights of Darby Smart
Darby Smart has successfully raised a total of $7.3M across 2 strategic funding rounds. The most recent funding activity was a Series A round of $6.3 million completed in May 2014. This substantial capital infusion reflects strong investor confidence in the company's business model, growth potential, and market opportunities. The funding enables strategic expansion, product development, market penetration, and operational scaling to drive long-term value creation and competitive advantage.
- Total Funding $7.3M
- Total Rounds 2
- Last Round Series A — $6.3M
- First Round $1M
(Jun 2013)
- Investors Count 5
All 2 funding rounds of Darby Smart with amounts and investors; the two latest post-money valuations are shown, the rest are part of the premium plan.
| Date | Amount | Transaction Name | Valuation | Lead Investors | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2014 | $6.3M | Series A | – | Maveron | |
| Jun 2013 | $1M | Seed | – | Maveron, Forerunner Ventures |
6 investors in total: 4 institutional and 2 angel.
Investors in Darby Smart
Darby Smart has secured backing from 6 investors, including venture fund, institutional, and angel investors. Prominent investors backing the company include Creative Artists Agency, Grove Collaborative and Forerunner Ventures.
| Investor | Description | Founded Year | Domain | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Early-stage investments are directed toward tech startups by Forerunner Ventures. | forerunnerventures.com | San Francisco, United States | ||
Venture capital investments in consumer businesses, emphasizing technology and human behavior. | maveron.com | |||
Creative Artists Agency is engaged in talent representation and brand management. | 1975 | caa.com | Los Angeles, United States | |
DG Dave Gilboa | Co-founder of Warby Parker, active angel investor in consumer and tech startups. | unknown_e95eda879b184679b | ||
VN Vivi Nevo | unknown_cb7c994c137b4045a | |||
Cleaning and beauty products are provided via online subscriptions. | 2012 | grove.co | San Francisco, United States |
Investor details for Darby Smart
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Timeline of Darby Smart
4 dated milestones of Darby Smart across 6 years, from founding to its latest funding, stage changes and deals.
- Founded Darby Smart is founded.
- Funding First funding round of $1.0M.
- Funding Latest funding round, Series A, of $6.3M.
- Exit Acquired by Grove.
Competitors of Darby Smart
Darby Smart has 3 listed competitors in our database, 2 of them funded. They include YouTube, Triller and TikTok.
| Company Name | Domain | Founded | HQ Location | Total funding | Employees | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| youtube.com | 2005 | San Bruno, United States | $11.5M | User-generated videos and content are shared and streamed online. | ||
| triller.co | 2015 | Los Angeles, United States | $400M | 86 | Music videos are created and shared through a mobile platform. | |
| tiktok.com | 2016 | Los Angeles, United States | 5 | Short videos are shared via a mobile social networking platform. |
Detailed competitors of Darby Smart
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- Full competitor set
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Web traffic of Darby Smart
Websites that share an audience with Darby Smart (darbysmart.com).
Websites whose visitors overlap most with Darby Smart. Affinity shows how closely the audiences match.
| Website | Domain | Audience affinity | Monthly visits | Global rank | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
gifts.redenvelope.com | gifts.redenvelope.com | 100% | – | ||
adtrck23.com | adtrck23.com | 74% | – | ||
subscriptionboxmom.com | subscriptionboxmom.com | 64% | #816,921 | – | |
frugalbeautiful.com | frugalbeautiful.com | 63% | – | ||
| whimseybox.com | 62% | View details | |||
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
All 11 similar websites and full traffic analytics for Darby Smart
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- 11 similar websites
- Audience overlap
- Engagement analytics
- Traffic by brand
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Top companies in Corporate & Professional Learning Platforms
3 companies that operate in the same segment as Darby Smart (Corporate & Professional Learning Platforms) in United States, ranked by their profile score on The Company Check.
| Company | Description | Founded | Location | Total funding | Revenue | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Developer of a platform providing gamified language learning through interactive exercises | 2011 | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States | USD 183.3 M | USD 748.02 M | 900 | |
Cloud-based LMS platform for IT industry | 2004 | Farmington, Utah, United States | USD 235.41 M | USD 4.95 M | 1,774 | |
Professional certification programs are delivered through a mobile platform. | 2010 | San Francisco, California, United States | USD 80.82 M | USD 84.24 M | 1,661 |
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Related news about Darby Smart
Complete news archive for Darby Smart
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Frequently Asked Questions about Darby Smart
Darby Smart was founded in 2013.
Darby Smart is headquartered in San Francisco, United States. It is registered at San Francisco, California, United States.
Darby Smart is a funded company, having raised a total of $7.3M across 2 funding rounds to date. The company's 1st funding round was a Seed of $1M, raised on Jun 2013.
Darby Smart has 12 employees.
Darby Smart is an online crowdsourced platform providing how-to-do videos on topics such as beauty tricks, DIY projects, easy recipes, kids ideas, gardening, holiday and partying. Its mobile app allows users to film and edit videos and share with the community. Its current revenue is generated from video creation of product catalog and video shoots showcasing the use of products. Darby was earlier an online retailer working with designers of DIY accessories, fashion products, and home items but now has pivoted to this new business model.
Darby Smart has 6 investors. Key investors include Creative Artists Agency, Grove Collaborative, Forerunner Ventures, Maveron, and Dave Gilboa.
Darby Smart operates through Darby Smart, Inc..
Yes. Darby Smart was acquired by Grove in April 2019.