Social blogging platform Pinterest is celebrating a milestone, having hit 150m monthly active users following a 50 per cent increase in its userbase over the past 12 months.

The platform, which was originally largely popular among US women, is also diversifying, with over half of its users and 75 per cent of new signups now located outside the US. 40 per cent of new signups are also men, up 70 per cent on the same period last year.

In addition to growing its audience, Pinterest has focused on expanding its mobile offering over the past 18 months, introducing its Buyable Pins ad unit which streamlines the purchase process for users and advertisers, and expanding its visual search capabilities with acquisitions and innovation.

The service is increasingly focusing on its mCommerce capabilities, and enabling brands to reach consumers with relevant messaging in a variety of formats, including new native video ads.

“Pinterest is more of a personal tool than a social one,” said Ben Silbermann, CEO and co-founder of Pinterest. “People don’t come to see what their friends are doing (there are lots of other great places out there for that!) Instead, they come to Pinterest to find ideas to try, figure out which ones they love, and learn a little bit about themselves in the process.”