Gilt Groupe announced that the company has closed a series C-round stock financing of $43 million with General Atlantic and Matrix Partners. The new financing will be used "to secure Gilt Groupe's position as US market leader in online flash sales, an ecommerce model that has seen rapid growth in recent years."

The company's flagship property at Gilt.com has built a following with daily flash sales of luxury and designer goods at members-only discounts of up to 70%, holding more than 30 sales per week across a broad range of categories with 400 designer brand relationships.

The company has quintupled its membership in the past year, with 1.3 million registered members in the US and more than 200,000 on its five-month-old Japanese site. Company revenue for calendar year 2009 is expected to be in excess of $150 million.

Gilt Groupe plans to leverage its successful private sale model with new category launches targeting aspirational and enthusiast consumer segments. This month, the company will launch Gilt Fuse, a contemporary fashion site for younger members, followed by a vacation travel site, jetsetter.com. As a result, Gilt Groupe expects to host over four thousand sales in 2010, up from fifteen hundred in 2009.

Gilt Groupe was launched in November 2007 by Alexis Maybank, an early employee of eBay, Alexandra Wilkis Wilson, formerly of Bulgari and Louis Vuitton, and Kevin Ryan, former CEO of DoubleClick. Susan Lyne, former CEO of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, was appointed CEO of the company in September 2008. Headquartered in New York City, Gilt Groupe currently employs a staff of 240 people.

http://www.gilt.com