{"id":10435,"date":"2010-04-15T14:16:05","date_gmt":"2010-04-15T22:16:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/198.46.88.49\/?p=10435"},"modified":"2010-04-29T05:43:03","modified_gmt":"2010-04-29T13:43:03","slug":"clip-this-groupon-valued-at-1-35-billion-dollars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/198.46.88.49\/electrotech\/clip-this-groupon-valued-at-1-35-billion-dollars","title":{"rendered":"Clip This: Groupon Valued at $1.35 Billion Dollars"},"content":{"rendered":"

$\"\"$ Last December we filled you in on Groupon<\/a>, the site that offers deals on restaurants, shopping and activities in several US cities. While we definitely found a few people – consumers and business owners alike, who thought Groupons offered great deals, we didn’t know that a $30 million funding round was only the tip of the iceberg for how highly investors valued the site.<\/p>\n

Don’t look for this in your daily announcement email from the site, but depending on which “inside source” you listen to, Groupon<\/a> is raising or has raised an additional $130 million at a valuation of $1.35 billion. That’s right, billion with a “B”. Just think of how many skydiving lessons or wine and cupcake combos that could get you.<\/p>\n

According to Techcrunch, the company doesn’t really need the money. They’re doing just fine on the $1 million per week profit<\/a> {TechCrunch} they’re making. So why the investment if operating costs are well covered? As much as we’d like to see it directed towards Group\u00c3\u00b6upon<\/a>, it’s supposedly to buy out employees in advance of an IPO.<\/p>\n

What makes that even more eye popping is the fact that Groupon hasn’t even hit their second anniversary. The company launched in November 2008, and is already anticipating revenue of $350 million for 2010. That even puts Gilt Groupe, another company who’s enjoyed a meteoric rise, to shame. The other G shopping site last raised a $40 million round at a valuation of $400 million. Certainly nothing we’d turn down [ed note: really, if you have a few million you’d like to invest, please see the contact link at the bottom of this page<\/em>], and Gilt’s been extremely successful with wealthy shoppers online<\/a>, but that doesn’t put them at 1\/3rd of what Groupon is apparently going for.<\/p>\n

Is it too early to request a Groupon for Groupon stock?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last December we filled you in on Groupon, the site that offers deals on restaurants, shopping and activities in several US cities. While we definitely found a few people – consumers and business owners alike, who thought Groupons offered great deals, we didn’t know that a $30 million funding round was only the tip of the iceberg for how highly investors valued the site.<\/p>\n