Fab was founded in February 2010 by
Jason Goldberg (formerly of
XING AG and Jobster) and chief designer
Bradford Shellhammer. The pair had previously founded Fabulis which was a social network for gay men and their friends before pivoting on June 9, 2011 into Fab, with its model of daily design inspirations and sales. In November 2011, five months after re-launching, Fab reached 1 million members. The company reached this number faster than
Facebook,
Twitter and
Groupon. In September 2012, Fab removed the membership requirements to browse the site. In December 2012, Fab passed 10 million members, up from 7.5 million members in September. Fab also announced it had sold more than 4.3 million products since its launch, averaging 5.4 products sold per minute. In July 2013, Fab eliminated 100 positions at its
Berlin office as a profit-building measure. Fab laid off 101 more staff, primarily at its
New York City office in October 2013, further reducing their workforce by 19 percent. In September 2014, Fab launched a sister website Hem, a design site offering customized furniture designs. In 2014, Bradford Shellhammer left his role as chief design officer to create his own curated design marketplace,
Bezar.
Acquisitions Fab made its first acquisition in January 2012 when it purchased independent fashion retailer FashionStake. In February 2012, Fab purchased German flash sales website Casacanda, founded by
Roman Kirsch in 2011. Four months later the company acquired UK-based online design retailer Llustre. In June 2014, Fab acquired Finnish e-retailer One Nordic Furniture for an undisclosed sum paid in cash and stock.
Social commerce Fab promoted
social commerce. The company maintained an Inspiration Wall where members could upload and share design inspirations. In December 2011, Fab introduced its “Live Feed”, which enables users to share what they are buying, liking, and tweeting on Fab.com. In January 2012, Fab was among Facebook's initial partners as part of its integration of social tools through the Facebook Timeline. The company also employed a mobile first strategy with its digital products, with an emphasis on iPad and iPhone, and released a custom mobile app in October 2012. == Funding ==