LivingSocial, which operates a web site that offers daily coupons for restaurants, hotels, spas, bars and sporting events, says it has raised $14 million in a Series C round of venture funding led by LightSpeed Venture Partners. The company will use the funding to expand into new markets.
The deals on LivingSocial.com, which change daily, offer savings that average 50% to 70%. For instance, a consumer today can spend $10 to buy $20 worth of food at a Chicago Italian restaurant. Consumers can share the offer through Facebook and Twitter. Each market has one deal per day. Other companies, notably Groupon, offer similar offers for consumers who sign up.
The new funding will enable LivingSocial to expand into Portland, OR, Orange County, CA, Charlotte, NC and Philadelphia. “We're constantly receiving requests from our users to expand and launch in their markets, and this recent funding round will allow us to do just that," says Tim O'Shaughnessy, CEO and co-founder of LivingSocial.
LivingSocial also launched what it calls hyperlocal deals in the Seattle metropolitan area that target particular nearby communities like Tacoma, which is 32 miles southwest of Seattle.
LivingSocial now serves 18 cities—not including the hyperlocal deals—and says it expects to have a presence in dozens of markets by 2011.
U.S. Venture Partners, Grotech Ventures and Revolution LLC also took part in the investment round.
LivingSocial raised $5 million in capital in June 2008, $5 million in December 2009 and $25 million in March of this year.
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