Google Buys German Groupon Clone DailyDeal

DailyDeal.de, a German Groupon clone launched in Berlin in December 2009, has been acquired by Google, the company says in a message on its website (see below). TheNextWeb reported the acquisition first (in English, at least).

Google hasn’t yet announced or confirmed the acquisition. DailyDeal did not disclose the financial terms of the agreement.

Update 3: Google has issued the following statement:

“As more and more people go online to find the latest, most relevant deals, we’re exploring new ways to help consumers get the best local deals out there. The DailyDeal team has an incredible track record in this space, and we look forward to working with them.”

DailyDeal was founded by two brothers, Fabian and Ferry Heilemann, who will both stay on board.

The company offers visitors daily deals in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

DailyDeal has raised over $10 million from VC firms Mangrove Capital Partners and Adinvest, as well as angel investors like Stefan Glänzer (an early investor in Last.fm), Michael Brehm (Ex-StudiVZ) and Jochen Maaß.

Update: a source says Mangrove and Adinvest didn’t end up investing in the company, despite what has been publicized (including, by DailyDeal itself). Other investors did include Insight Partners and Rebate Networks. Confusing.

Update 2: Ok so we understand Mangrove Capital Partners, Brehm and Maaß were no longer investors, but Insight Ventures Partners, Rebate Networks and AdInvest were.

The company made an acquisition of its own last year, snapping up rival Reduti.

DailyDeal’s announcement:

“When DailyDeal was founded in Berlin back in December 2009, there was just two of us. Since then, we have seen tremendous growth, as people throughout Germany, Austria and Switzerland have used DailyDeal to find local deals on their favorite restaurants, travel destinations, entertainment venues and retail outlets.

Our team has grown too, and with it, our vision for DailyDeal. We see great opportunity to better connect businesses with consumers on a much larger scale, and we have found a team that shares our vision.

That’s why we’re excited to announce that we’ve been acquired by Google! What began as a two-person startup less than two years ago has transformed into a trusted platform to connect businesses with consumers. By combining our expertise with the Offers team at Google, we hope to expand our efforts to provide even greater deals to consumers.

The DailyDeal team”