A tour of New York's startup "Silicon Beach"

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Year founded: 2005

Staff: 160

Etsy quickly made a name for itself among "hobbypreneurs," people who turn their hobbies into businesses. In this case that side gig is arts and crafts: clothes, jewelry, housewares, paper goods, and vintage items that are crafted, often individually, by their makers.

"Most people don't know much of anything about the people who created the objects in their lives," says Etsy press manager Adam Brown. "We're all about connecting people who make things with people who are curious about such items and people who want to buy them and meet those people."

The e-commerce community has raised more than $31 million from investors that include Fred Wilson's Union Square Ventures and Flickr founder Katarina Fake. So far this year, hundreds of thousands of sellers have sold over $235 million in goods, and the company now reports annual earnings between $30 million and $50 million.

NEXT: Carrot Creative