Amazon invests $175M in DC-based LivingSocial, Lightspeed adds $8M

December 3rd, 2010

Tim O'Shaughnessy, CEO, LivingSocial

WASHINGTON, DC - LivingSocial, the company that rapidly transformed from providing the “Pick Five” app on Facebook to launching its local deals service in more than 120 locations, has received a $175 million investment from Amazon (Nasdaq:AMZN) and an additional $8 million from Lightspeed Venture Partners.

The company’s fund raising success – LivingSocial raised more than $49 million in venture backing this year from investors including US Venture Partners, Grotech Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Revolution – further demonstrates how hot the local commerce sector has become. The company’s primary competitor, Chicago-based Groupon, has also raised significant venture backing, including $135 million this year.

Recently, LivingSocial expanded its business by acquiring adventure company Urban Escapes, and launching three new verticals including LivingSocial Family Edition, Campus Deals and LivingSocial Escapes, a travel site that offers unbeatable savings on curated adventures. In addition, the company continues a regular flow of launches – on average one per day – and has expanded its reach in Australiawith a controlling stake in Jump On It, making it live in five countries.

LivingSocial says it will use this investment to maintain a steady drumbeat of worldwide launches and overall business growth while continuing to serve more than 10 million subscribers across the U.S., Canada, UK, Ireland and Australia in more than 120 locations. Because of LivingSocial’s rapid expansion, the company is currently booking revenues of more than $1 million a day on average and is projected to book well over $500 million in revenue in 2011.

“To be the biggest player in the local commerce space there is no one better to work with than Amazon,” said Tim O’Shaughnessy, CEO of LivingSocial. “As the social shopping space continues to heat up, LivingSocial is committed to staying focused on providing the high level of quality that consumers and merchants have come to expect when working with us.”

Report says Amazon in talks to invest $100M in DC’s LivingSocial

November 19th, 2010

WASHINGTON, DC – LivingSocial, which launched its Daily Deals shopping service in top markets throughout the US this year, may be on the verge of landing a major investment from Amazon.com, according to VentureBeat.

LivingSocial raised more than $49 million in venture backing so far this year from investors including US Venture Partners, Grotech Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Revolution.

VentureBeat cited an unnamed source close to one of LivingSocial’s investors. It said the deal would help Amazon gain a much bigger chunk of the hot local deals market, which includes players such as Chicago-based Groupon. LivingSocial expanded its local deals service rapidly and is now in more than 100 markets and has 10 million subscribers.

TJS Editor/writer Allan Maurer: Email Allan at TechJournalSouth dot com.We’ve covered LivingSocial closely at TechJournal South. For previous reports see:

LivingSocial grabs another $10M plus for expanding local deals biz