Pinterest has spurred an army of imitators gunning for the social photo movement.

Rivals have focused on such niche areas as travel or men's interests to get a slice of the action.

None of them to date have shown much to threaten Pinterest's lead - until now.

LoveIt, which goes live today and announces $6 million in funding, has such a promising formula.

"Just another Pinterest clone, that's not what we are," says LoveIt co-founder and CEO Ron LaPierre. "We've build a bunch of clear product differentiators."

For starters, he says, the site targets a wider range of user interests and age groups. For example, its readily apparent that its easier to find categories of images aimed at men as well as women. For example, men can quickly add categories for "Awesome Automobiles" and "Dream Garage" upon signing up.

"When we looked at the demographic for Pinterest we were like 'how can we make this more appealing for men?'" says LaPierre.

Unlike Pinterest, the site also has options for LoveIt users to share in private groups or smaller groups, he says. This could allow a husband to pick out gift ideas for a wife that only a small group of invited friends could see, for instance. The site also differentiates itself by offering bulk uploads of images.

The venture funding, its first round, comes from Juvo Capital and PG Ventures.

Pinterest has spurred an army of imitators gunning for the social photo movement.

Rivals have focused on such niche areas as travel or men's interests to get a slice of the action. None of them to date have shown much to threaten Pinterest's lead - until now.

LoveIt, which goes live today and announces $6 million in funding, has a promising formula.

"Just another Pinterest clone, that's not what we are," says LoveIt co-founder and CEO Ron LaPierre. "We've built a bunch of clear product differentiators."

For starters, he says, the site targets a wider range of user interests and age groups. For example, it's readily apparent that it's easier to find categories of images aimed at men as well as women. For example, men can quickly add the categories "Awesome Automobiles" and "Dream Garage" upon signing up.

"When we looked at the demographic for Pinterest we were like 'How can we make this more appealing for men?'" says LaPierre.

Unlike Pinterest, the site also has options for LoveIt users to share in private groups or smaller groups, he says. This could allow a husband to pick out gift ideas for a wife that only a small group of invited friends could see, for instance. The site will also differentiate itself by soon offering bulk uploads of images.

The venture funding, its first round, comes from Juvo Capital and PG Ventures.