Herea4ぎa4г the big announcement that everyone knew was coming: Daily deals site Groupon has raised $950 million in new funding.
The fact that Groupon was raising the round, and that it had raised $500 million already, came to light last month through a filing with the Securities Commission. TechCrunch reported Friday that Kleiner Perkins Caufield &' Byers was participating in the round &8212' the firm has been aggressively moving back into social networking with its $250 million sFund for social startups and an investment in Twitter that valued the company at $3.7 billion.
And yes, Kleiner is listed among the investors in Groupona4ぎa4г new round as well as Andreessen Horowitz, Battery Ventures, Greylock Partners, Mail.ru Group (formerly Digital Sky Technologies), Maverick Capital, Silver Lake, and Technology Crossover. Previous investors New Enterprise Associates and Accel Partners werena4ぎa4д on the list, although both firms declined to offer any real comment when PEHub asked whether they sat out on the new round.
Groupon has attracted its share of critics, including guest columnists in VentureBeat, who question whether the companya4ぎa4г growth is sustainable. Clearly there are plenty of investors willing to bet that Groupon is still on its way up. In an interview with The New York Times, company president Rob Solomon said that there were still many more small businesses worldwide for Groupon to recruit, and that the company plans to offer those businesses more services.
In the press release announcing the funding (titled, in Groupona4ぎa4г typical tongue-in-cheek fashion, a4ぎAGroupon Raises, Like, A Billion Dollarsa4ぎ), the company says that in the last year, it expanded from 1 to 35 countries and grew from 2 million to more than 50 million subscribers.
The company previously walked away from a $6 billion acquisition offer by Google. The press release doesna4ぎa4д disclose a valuation, but TechCrunch reported that it was $4.75 billion.
[Image of Groupon CEO Andrew Mason lovingly Photoshopped by VentureBeat Executive Editor Owen Thomas]
Next Story: Foodspotting bites into $3M of new funding Previous Story: AMD CEO Dirk Meyer &8212' the man who outwitted Intel &8212' resigns
Print Email Twitter Facebook Google Buzz LinkedIn Digg StumbleUpon Reddit Delicious Google More&8230'
Companies: Andreessen Horowitz, Groupon, Kleiner Perkins Caufield &' Byers
People: Andrew Mason, Rob Solomon
Companies: Andreessen Horowitz, Groupon, Kleiner Perkins Caufield &' Byers
People: Andrew Mason, Rob Solomon
Anthony is a senior editor at VentureBeat, as well as its reporter on media, advertising, and social networks. Before joining the site in 2008, Anthony worked at the Hollister Free Lance, where he won awards from the California Newspaper Publishers Association for breaking news coverage and writing. He attended Stanford University and now lives in San Francisco. Reach him at anthony@venturebeat.com. (All story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com) You can also follow Anthony on Twitter.
VentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters. Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.
Discuss Add this link to... Bury
Comments