Buyer of Melbourne coupon pioneer RetailMeNot gets $US10 million from Google Ventures

The American company that purchased Melbourne internet coupon start-up RetailMeNot last year has now received a $US10 million investment from Google's venture capital division, Google Ventures.

The move comes after Whaleshark has already raised over $US120 million, with investments in a number of different discount and coupon websites including Deals.com, Deals2Buy, CouponShare and CouponSeven.

The investment comes as the coupon space continues to heat up alongside the exploding group buying market. RetailMeNot co-founder Guy King, Stateless Systems and Whaleshark media were contacted this morning by SmartCompany, but no reply was received before publication.

It is unknown how both Guy King and co-founder Bevan Clark will benefit, if at all, from the new investment, although it is known that the pair have stepped back from day-to-day duties at the company.

TechCrunch has reported the $US10 million round, which is being led by Google but has some other investors involved as well, will also see investor Brian Sharples, who is chief executive of Homeaway, join the company's board of directors.

Sharples has been successful in raising several hundred million dollars for his own website, which organises vacation rental houses for people on overseas and domestic trips.

The investment also comes as Google has been expanding its operations in the coupons and deals areas, launching Google Offers in Portland and releasing an updated iPhone App to account for discounts and deals.

The publication reports that Whaleshark is making $50 million in revenue per year – with much of that coming from RetailMeNot – and that over 100,000 businesses are now offering deals through its portfolio of websites.

While the purchase price for RetailMeNot was not disclosed last year, it has been reported that most of a $US90 million funding round was spent on the company.

Related Items :

Comments (1)
studying
...
written by studying, August 03, 2011
pity our coupon system is not like that in the usa. when will we have a system like there so that groceries can be reduced/free from coupon shopping.

Write comment
You must be logged in to post a comment. Please register if you do not have an account yet.

busy
 

Steve Jobs - Free eBookFREE eBOOK: Steve Jobs - Lessons from a legend

In this eBook, we look at the career of Steve Jobs and showcase a number of different lessons you can gain from following his example

Register for the SmartCompany Newsletter and receive 'Steve Jobs - Lessons from a legend'.

Please enter a valid email address. For example fred@domain.com .

By submitting your email you are agreeing to our Terms & Conditions.

Free Daily Newsletter
SmartCompany Newsletter Please enter a valid email address. For example fred@domain.com .
Follow us:

By submitting your email you are agreeing to our Terms & Conditions.

Sponsored Links

Business Resources

Our Partners

 

Private Media Publications

Crikey

loading...

Crikey Blogs

loading...

StartupSmart

loading...

Property Observer

loading...

Leading Company

loading...
Smartco

DIRECT LINKS

TOPICS

OUR PARTNERS

NETWORK PARTNERS

 

SmartCompany.com.au is Australia's leading website for SMEs featuring business news, business information and business blogs. SmartCompany's archive of news, feature articles, entrepreneur interviews and business webinars cover topics such as advertising and marketing, buying or selling a business, starting a business, growing a business, franchising, SEO, superannuation and tax.
SmartCompany is a Private Media website

Online Solution by Valegro

Download SmartCompany eBooks: 10 quick sales and marketing wins | Steve Jobs: Lessons from a legend50 tips from Australia's top SME entrepreneurs

Popular on Partner sites: Small business awards | Property Investment Tips | How to Write a Business Plan | Technology in Business | Business MentorsBusiness to Business | Small Business | How to Write a Marketing Plan | Federal Budget 2012 | Federal Budget 2012 webinar25 start up ideas