LivingSocial scores $175-million investment from Amazon.com
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Groupon’s potential deal with Google ended up being a boon for LivingSocial, a social commerce company that competes with Groupon in the local daily deals space.
The Washington company secured a $175-million investment from Amazon.com Inc., and an additional $8-million investment from Lightspeed Venture Partners.
After news broke that Google offered $6 billion in cash and earnouts to buy Groupon, LivingSocial looked like the belle of the ball within the daily-deal industry.
The daily-deal sites have turned into a social media phenomenon. The companies send daily e-mails to its subscribers offering 50% to 90% discounts on products and services such as spa treatments, fitness classes and restaurant food.
Seeing the trend, Amazon has invested hundreds of millions in the deals industry. In June it bought Woot, which offers a deal a day, for $110 million.
LivingSocial has 10 million subscribers in more than 120 markets and five countries, and it’s booking an average of $1 million-plus a day.
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-- W.J. Hennigan
