LivingSocial Scores $175 Million Investment, Group-ons Going Viral?

The daily-deal sites have turned into a social media phenomenon

Groupon’s potential deal with Google ended up being a boon for LivingSocial, a social commerce company that competes with Groupon in the local daily deals space

LATIMES Dec 2, 2010 | The Washington company secured a $175-million investment from Amazon.com Inc., and an additional $8-million investment from Lightspeed Venture Partners.

After news broke that Google offered $6 billion in cash and earnouts to buy Groupon, LivingSocial looked like the belle of the ball within the daily-deal industry.

The daily-deal sites have turned into a social media phenomenon. The companies send daily e-mails to its subscribers offering 50% to 90% discounts on products and services such as spa treatments, fitness classes and restaurant food.

Seeing the trend, Amazon has invested hundreds of millions in the deals industry. In June it bought…

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