Pearltrees lands $1.6M more for social discovery on the Web

Pearltrees, a social tool for discovering and organizing Web content, has announced it secured a second round of funding for €1.3 million (US$1.6 million). The funding will be used to expand globally, especially in the US.

Pearltrees is a free online social network that allows users to tag (or “pearl,” in the site’s parlance) content on the Web and share it with others who have similar interests. Users create pearltrees which house the individual pearls, or pieces of content, so that you can keep them all in one place. Other users can see your pearls and opt to stay updated on what content you’re finding. You don’t need an account to view what someone’s tagged, but only registered users can create pearls or follow someone’s pearltree.

Several other companies could be considered competitors, including recent DEMO company Pinyadda, whose offering gathers and organizes Web content relating to a user’s specified interests.

The recent round of funding was led by European entrepreneurs and angel investors based in France, Switzerland, Germany and England. It brings Pearltrees’ total funding to €3.8 million (US$4.6 million).

The Paris-based company launched at French technology and startup conference LeWeb in December 2009.