FILE PHOTO: A Pinterest banner hangs on the facade of the New York Stock Exchange, (NYSE) during the morning rush in the financial district in New York City, U.S., February 9, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

(Reuters) - Image-based searching and sharing website Pinterest on Tuesday appointed Francoise Brougher, a former executive at Alphabet Inc, as its first chief operating officer.

Brougher, most recently the business lead at Square Inc, will be responsible for supervising Pinterest’s operations around the world and will lead its sales.

Brougher, whose appointment is effective March 12, will be based out of Pinterest’s headquarters in San Francisco and report to Chief Executive Officer Ben Silbermann.

The first COO announcement is part of the maturation of a company as it nears an initial public offering.

Pinterest has more than 200 million monthly active users worldwide collecting and pinning photos related to cooking, designing, travel and other interests on its website.

More than half of Pinterest users are from outside the United States.

The company, backed by Andreessen Horowitz, Fidelity Investments and Goldman Sachs among others, has a market valuation of more than $12 billion.