Online marketplace Etsy raised funding again.  This time $40 million taking its total raise to $92 million.  The Wall Street Journal said according to people familiar with the matter, the deal values the online marketplace for handmade and vintage goods at more than $600 million.  We of course love it!

This is basically a marketplace for items you made with your hands; one would think a pretty small market.  Alas it is not. Etsy last month sold about $65 million in goods, Its CEO explains "Each month, 40 million people around the world visit Etsy, with 15 million registered members and 875,000 sellers generating those sales in 150 countries."

We believe this validates our investment thesis to go after hobby markets such as toys, coins, vintage cars and hi-end hifi equipment - markets that we estimate to be worth $200 billion a year.