New York-based startup VillageVines has raised a first round of funding from Hearst Interactive Media, GrandBanks Capital and High Peaks Venture Partners for its exclusive restaurant site.
The site, which launched eight months ago, offers diners discounted restaurant reservations (typically 30 percent off the entire bill) in Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C.
A big difference between VillageVines and other daily deal sites like Chicago-based Groupon is that diners do not need to bring in physical coupons — the site’s reservation system flags members to the restaurants and automatically subtracts the discount from the bill.