Pulse2 Technology and Social Media News » LivingSocial

LivingSocial Announces Take-Out and Delivery Service

Amit Chowdhry — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 20:09:49 +0000

Daily deals coupon website LivingSocial has announced an Internet food-ordering service. Through LivingSocial, customers will be able to order all kinds of food from participating restaurants over the Internet. The service is called “Takeout & Delivery,” which offers real-time discounts with certain constraints. LivingSocial said that this service was a testing ground for their new food-focused offering.

LivingSocial’s new service has over 2,700 restaurants in 26 U.S. markets including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, etc. This means that LivingSocial will be competing directly against GrubHub and Seamless.com.

LivingSocial said that phone takeout orders can sometimes be a “painful experience” that requires looking for a menu in drawing and giving out credit card information. Restaurants don’t have to pay to join the service, but LivingSocial will get an unspecified cut of revenue they bring in to the website.

LivingSocial Lost $558 Million In 2011

Amit Chowdhry — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 08:36:18 +0000

LivingSocial, the daily deals service that competes head-on with Groupon, has lost $558 million 2011 according to Amazon.com’s 10-K filing with the SEC. Revenues in 2011 hit $245 million. Amazon owns a large stake in LivingSocial so they have to report on the company’s financials given that it is an “equity method investment.”

The LivingSocial numbers that Amazon is reporting does not include the two foreign joint ventures. and they only include the final quarter of another LivingSocial acquisition.

LivingSocial is currently dealing with growing pains. The company has added about 4,500 employees in 17 international markets. LivingSocial also spent a ton on marketing in the first half of last year.

[GeekWire]

LivingSocial Raises $176 Million In Private Offering

Amit Chowdhry — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 00:13:43 +0000

LivingSocial has raised $176 million in a private offering according to an SEC filing. Investors in this round include Amazon.com, U.S. Venture Partners, and Steve Case’s Revolution Ventures. Code Advisors and JP Morgan oversaw the deal and made $5 million in the process. LivingSocial offered $400 million worth of stock and sold a portion of it. About $224 million of stock still available. The final $224 million is expected to be bought in the next several weeks or months. This round of funding will be used for operations and expansion such as setting up a new company headquarters. [BusinessInsider]

LivingSocial Testing Out A Monthly Subscription Service Called LivingSocial Plus

Amit Chowdhry — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 04:05:53 +0000

For those of you that spend a lot of money on daily deals from LivingSocial, this may be of some interest to you. LivingSocial is testing out a new subscription service called LivingSocial Plus. LivingSocial Plus is a $20 per month service where users would be credit $25 in Deal Bucks every month which would be automatically applied to the next purchase.

LivingSocial is marketing the service by pitching buyers on Plus with a checkout graphic that shows the price of the current deal reduced by the $5 in bonus Deal Bucks. The advantage of this idea for LivingSocial is that they would be able to create a recurring income stream by automatically charging users every month. They would also keep users engaged on their website and they would make free cash if the credits are not received. The disadvantage is that they lose $5 for every deal that is redeemed.

My guess is that the balance would work out more in LivingSocial’s favor. How many of you have had the same Netflix DVD sitting around your house or apartment for over a week? Most of you. Exactly.

[TechCrunch]

LivingSocial Expected To Announce $200 Million Investment This Week

Amit Chowdhry — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 15:44:18 +0000

This past September, I wrote about how LivingSocial was expected to raise $200 million in funding instead of going the IPO route for now. This week the company is expected to confirm the investment as provided by JP Morgan Asset Management, Amazon.com, and T.Rowe Price. This would put LivingSocial’s valuation at between $5 and $6 billion. LivingSocial is also expected to receive a $100 million revolving credit facility from JP Morgan that would allow them to draw funds without singing for a loan each time. [NYT]

LivingSocial Considers Raising $200 Million Instead Of Having An IPO

Amit Chowdhry — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 16:44:06 +0000

LivingSocial is considering to raise $200 million in funding at a valuation of $6 billion instead of pursuing an initial public offering. The new round of funding may be in equity and debt said sources with Bloomberg. JPMorgan Chase & Co. is acting as an adviser in the funding round.

LivingSocial was in talks with the banks earlier this year about raising $ 1 billion in an IPO. Recently the stock market performance has not been doing too well. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index has dropped 13% since July 21st. LivingSocial’s biggest rival Groupon has also postponed their IPO.

This potential round of funding would include LivingSocial’s existing investors and new investors. LivingSocial raised $400 million this past April at a vauation of $3.5 billion. They raised a total of $627 million from Grotech Ventures, IVP, T. Rowe Price Group Inc., and Amazon.com.

[Bloomberg]

The Debt Crisis Puts Future Tech IPOs In A Turbulent Market

Amit Chowdhry — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 22:28:05 +0000

Some of the technology companies that have filed to have an IPO this year includes Zillow.com, Zynga, Groupon, and LivingSocial. Given Pandora and LinkedIn’s success on their recent IPO, it provided positivity and excitement for the aforementioned companies to go public. However today’s economy gives the stock market an entirely different perspective.

The United States has a weak economy and is facing a debt crisis. The United States had lost its top credit rating for the first time in history due to the debt crisis. This directly affects what happens on Wall Street. Amazon.com’s market valuation dropped below $100 billion and Apple’s stock price dropped below $400 again on July 26th. LinkedIn’s stock was recently downgraded as well.

Even though Wall Street is in a volatile state, the market is showing signs of strength. According to Renaissance Capital, the number of offerings is up 15% to 93. The proceeds have more than doubled to $28.5 billion. These offerings have grown due to many technology companies. Due to the strength of the recent technology IPOs, I believe that current economic conditions will not deter companies like Groupon, Zynga, Zillow, and LivingSocial to postpone. All of these companies have been successful in their respective market shares.

[TechFlash]

LivingSocial Acquiring Korean Deal Company TicketMonster

Amit Chowdhry — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 00:33:13 +0000

Daily deals website LivingSocial has announced an agreement to acquire TicketMonster Inc., which is a leading social commerce website in South Korea.

TicketMonster was founded in 2010 and offers daily/instant deals along with travel packages to over 2 million users in Korea and Malaysia.

“TicketMonster is one of Korea’s most recognized and trusted brands in the nascent daily deal industry, and we are excited to bring them into the LivingSocial family,” stated LivingSocial CEO and co-founder Tim O’Shaughnessy. “TicketMonster and LivingSocial share the same culture of innovation, customer focus and fun, and we believe that the benefits we bring to consumers can be extended to other markets in Asia and around the world.”

Once the acquisition is complete, LivingSocial will be available in 23 different countries. TicketMonster’s 600 employees will become part of the LivingSocial team.

Foursquare Making Deals with Daily Deals Companies

Riley Kennysmith — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 18:03:30 +0000

Foursquare has found a way to turn their gigantic userbase into real profit, partnering with companies like LivingSocial and Gilt Group to market local deals within the app. The Wall Street Journal reports that Foursquare is also in talks with Groupon for a similar arrangement. The move sounds genius, if it’s done right. Wouldn’t it be nice to check into your hotel on Foursquare and see an ad for a Groupon for a nearby restaurant?

Other companies with agreements with Foursquare include AT&T, BuyWithMe and Zozi. Foursquare was valued at $600 million last month.

Groupon Vice Chairman Ted Leonsis May Have Conflict Of Interest

Amit Chowdhry — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 17:23:52 +0000

Ted Leonsis is a former AOL executive that owns the NBA Washington Wizards. Leonsis is currently a Vice Chairman at Groupon Inc., but he is also an investor in competitor LivingSocial. Leonsis also has ties to LivingSocial’s board of directors. This could be a major conflict of interest.

Leonsis has been serving as a director at Groupon since June 2009 and became a vice chairman in April 2011. Leonsis also serves as a partner at Revolution Growth. Revolution Growth is an investment company run by AOL co-founder Steve Case. Revolution Growth has stake in LivingSocial as well. Leonsis’ involvement in Groupon and LivingSocial may be questioned since Groupon recently filed to go public.

[BusinessWeek]