LivingSocial Worth $3 Billion, But Can It Last?

Groupon have to watch his back. In an impressive growth spurt, LivingSocial raised $ 400,000,000 from investors such as Amazon (which it gave the famous $ 175,000,000 much earlier this year), Lightspeed Venture Partners and T. Rowe Price, and Institutional Venture Partners, the New York Times reported.


And the site of two new ventures - a time-sensitive, geo-location app, a separate travel website - you are sure that they garner an even greater following and strong brand identity.

The new app, Living Online Instant working on a hyper-local and short flash-sale time frame that enable someone sitting at a park, at a discount would get to lunch at a nearby cafe. (Right now this application only in DC, where the company has its seat). The resort offers on-site escapes, has around 200,000 overnight stays now with the economy approaching $ 100 million, the Times reported sold.

But any gains ground on the elephant in the room - the group-buying giant Groupon - will be a tough fight. Even with a $ 3 billion impact LivingSocial is still far from Groupon (Groupon worth 25 billion U.S. dollars, more than 5 times as much as LivingSocial) a run for their money. And at 26 million subscribers, LS has only a third of Groupon audience.

Still Living Online CEO Tim O'Shaughnessy is sunny, announced its intention to double its revenue target 1000000000 $. But all optimism aside, if the group-buying business has a great future is somewhat in doubt - experts say the trend will ultimately see as a plateau more retailers that this group is working to transform ordinary customer, the less valuable coupon customers.