Crowdsourced stationery site Minted draws an amazing $41M

Minted, a website that sells stationery, has pulled in a whopping $41 million Series C investment from Technology Crossover Ventures, Allen & Company, and Benchmark Capital.

How does a site that sells paper and envelopes score such a massive investment? Through the magic of crowdsourcing, apparently: The site can draw on the creative resources of 5,000 designers, 98 percent of which are women and 40 percent of which are moms, All Things D reports. Using these crowdsourced designs, the company creates wedding invitations, personal stationery, party favors, and other goods (it pays a commission to the designers whose work it sells). It generates more than $10 million in revenue, is doubling year over year, and is cash-flow positive, according to CEO Mariam Naficy.

Minted employs 115 people and is based in San Francisco.