Visual search site Like.com closes $32M round

Visual search shopping site Like.com just announced that it has raised a $32 million third round of funding. We reported on the deal back in July, but the money hadn’t been wired over yet and we could only say the amount was in the “double digit millions.”

VentureBeat Editor Matt Marshall has been pretty impressed by Like.com’s business and technology, arguing the site demonstrates that image search can work. Looks like Menlo Ventures agrees — it led the round at a rumored valuation of more than $100 million. The round’s timing doesn’t hurt either. Coming just before the financial meltdown, the valuation discussion was probably more generous than it would be now, and the cash gives the San Mateo, Calif. company a nice buffer if its growth slows.

The company’s visual search creates a better online shopping experience by letting you search for things like “red snappy shoes,” which normal search engines might struggle with. Like.com can match colors, shapes and patterns.

The company previously raised $19.5 million. Competitors include CastTV, Blinkx, Videosurf, and others.