Link-in-bio startup Linktree said Wednesday it has surpassed 50 million users.
The number represents a significant increase from the 2.7 million users the company had in 2019. The company has been growing steadily, adding nearly 10 million users (or Linktrees, as Linktree calls them) in just five months: In December, The company told TechCrunch it had 41 million users and reported over 47 million users this March.
Linktree is considered one of the top link-in-bio tools on the market, with its competitors having a significantly smaller slice of the pie: the competitor Later has about 7 million users, while Lighthouses has more than 2 million.
“It’s amazing to see the scale we’ve reached by being Linker-first – now empowering over 50 million Linkers with a space they own to grow and monetize,” said its co-founder and CEO Linktree, Alex Zaccaria. statement to TechCrunch.
The company said it is also launching the beta of its social commerce offering. The new program which was in alpha in March, allows creators to add showcases to their link-in-bio pages and receive a 12% to 15% commission on sales. All users will be able to apply to join the program later this year.
The experiment initially started with a few brands (Revolve, Sephora and Urban Outfitters) and was only available to a few creators. As of today, Linktree is opening it up to more users and has added over 2,000 brands, including Adidas, Lululemon, New Balance and Net-a-Porter. Creators can access a huge product catalog that includes thousands of items that they can highlight in their storefronts.
The company also added a new feature alongside the beta launch: Users can now upload user-generated content to promote relevant content from their social media accounts alongside recommended products.
Linktree’s social commerce offering could prove useful for influencers as it gives them the means to effectively monetize their audience. The global market for social commerce is predicted to reach $1.2 trillion by 2025according to Accenture.
“The goal of the program is to supercharge the organic social commerce activity we’re seeing on the platform, facilitating both Linkers and brands,” Lara Cohen, Linktree’s VP of brand development, told TechCrunch. “We estimate that Linkers raise $6 billion annually [gross merchandise value] already through their Linktrees. We want to reduce friction and increase conversions by reducing the number of clicks it takes to make a purchase and enabling customers to discover the products Linkers love right in their Linktrees.”
The new program is indicative of Linktree’s intention to evolve into a more flexible service with more revenue streams.
Linktree had more than 240 million commercial clicks from links last month, translating into about $300 million in monthly commercial sales, a company spokesman said, citing proprietary data.
Linktree has come a long way since its inception in 2016 and today is used by everyone from part-time content creators to celebrities like Demi Lovato, Paris Hilton and Robert Downey Jr. The White House uses the link-in-bio solution to direct US citizens to online resources.
The company also made significant investments last year, acquiring two smaller link-in-bio startups, Koji and Bento. Linktree declined to comment on what it plans to do with both platforms.
But it wasn’t all smooth sailing. In June 2023, Linktree laid off 27% of its workforce, seeing many employees in Australia and New Zealand leave the company. In a memo to staffsaid Zakaria The layoffs would help Linktree focus on further growth in the US, the company’s biggest market. The layoffs followed a round of cuts in 2022 that left 17% of the workforce.
Linktree has raised more than $165 million in funding to date and is valued at over $1 billion.
