Hearst Interactive Media, early investors in companies like Pandora, Netscape and Local.com, has taken the lead in a $3 million round of funding for VillageVines, a startup that offers member discounts at upscale restaurants in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and other major cities in the United States.
The media company’s interactive arm led the round, which follows a $750,000 round seed funding round, with GrandBanks Capital and High Peaks Venture Partners participating.
VillageVines says it will use the investment to scale its operations across the country, hire key staff, increase its marketing efforts and establish more affiliate agreements.
People can sign up for VillageVines to gain access to a curated selection of ‘exclusive’ restaurants, book reservations online and score discounts that are discreetly applied to their bills without needing to show a coupon – the startup says discounts are generally 30 percent off the entire meal, including drinks.
The company claims it has already generated over half a million dollars of sales for their restaurant partners in December 2010 alone.
Savored is the nation’s leading provider of yield management solutions to the restaurant industry. Over 1,000 restaurants nationwide use the Savored reservation platform to lower prices when they have empty tables and to increase prices when they have excess demand. Savored leverages a proprietary technology that searches restaurant availability and leverages yield management to offer diners the lowest possible price at great restaurants. Consumers browse Savored’s list of leading restaurants, make free online reservations and then receive discounts of...
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