Inside these posts: LivingSocial

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Nipping at Groupon, LivingSocial raises $400M

Online coupon site LivingSocial said it raised $400 million in a round of funding, bringing the total to more than $600 million as investors flock to companies that provide socially driven discounts. Get the full story »

Google eyes smaller players after Groupon

Groupon CEO Andrew Mason. (Brian Cassella, Chicago Tribune)

Google is in talks with smaller players in the online discount coupon market after Groupon turned down the web giant’s $6 billion buyout offer, the New York Post said, citing a source close to the situation.

Groupon’s smaller rivals LivingSocial and BuyWithMe may now be on Google’s radar after Groupon deal fell through, the Post said.

BuyWithMe interim President David Wolfe, who declined to comment on whether he was speaking to Google, told the Post that he believes Google needs to enter the coupon advertising market. Get the full story »

Amazon invests $175M in LivingSocial

LivingSocial, a deal-of-the-day company that’s seen as one of Groupon’s biggest rivals, said Thursday it has received a $175 million investment from e-commerce giant Amazon.

The Washington, D.C.-based start-up’s latest round of funding also included another $8 million from Lightspeed Venture Partners of Menlo Park, Calif. Lightspeed had previously led a $14 million round of funding for LivingSocial in April. Before that, the daily deal site had conducted two other rounds totaling $30 million.

LivingSocial said it plans to use the money for expansion. The daily deal site is in more than 120 markets, including cities in Europe and Australia, and projects its 2011 revenue at more than $500 million. Get the full story »

Daily-deal site LivingSocial challenges Groupon

By Wailin Wong |
The competition between daily-deal Web sites continues to heat up, as Washington D.C.-based LivingSocial said Thursday it has raised $25 million in funding and launched in Chicago.

The leader in the daily-deal space is Chicago-based Groupon, which secured $30 million in funding in December and is active in nearly 40 cities. A number of competitors have sprung up over recent months. Many of them modeled their deals after Groupon, which requires a minimum amount of people to participate in an offer before it’s activated.

Get the full story »