Etsy founder Rob Kalin will be taking over the reins as CEO once again in January, 2010, he writes in a blog post. Etsy’s current CEO, Maria Thomas, will be leaving the company. Thomas was brought on as CEO in mid-2008 from NPR (where she headed up its digital efforts), and helped grow the marketplace for hand-crafted goods.
The comScore chart below indicates that it’s been on a bit of a tear lately, with 3.4 million unique U.S. visitors in November, 2009, up from 1.7 million a year ago. The company says the site is getting 11 million visitors a month worldwide.
It’s not clear how much those visitors bought on the site (in 2008 it was more than $100 million), but Kalin also discloses for the first time that the company is profitable. Perhaps Thomas was brought in for adult supervision while Kalin, who is young, was learning the ropes. I asked Kalin if he is looking for another CEO, and he responded via email, “I’ll be CEO as long as it’s good for Etsy.” If he’s in it for the long haul, as he appears to be, now’s a good time to transition back into the CEO role.
Last week, the company purchased advertising startup Adtuitive. It raised $27 million in January in a series C funding, and gained Accel VC Jim Breyer as a board member. Fred Wilson from Union Square Ventures is also on the board.
Update: Kalin reports that gross merchandise sales on Etsy is “approaching 200 million in goods sold this year,” which is double last year’s amount.
