Groupon has a fever, and the only prescription is more funding. According to this SEC form, the daily deal giant has received yet another infusion of capital, this time at just over $6 million. This comes on the heels of Groupon’s recent $16.2 million round as well as its unprecedented $950 million round back in January.
Groupon has been a very busy company of late. Several days ago, the daily deals site acquired Whrrl creator Pelago, and today it announced the hiring of Google VP Margo Georgiadis and Amazon’s Jason Child as CFO in December. The funding, it seems, is directly related to its recent acquisition of Pelago. According to the filing, “This offering is being made in connection with the purchase by a subsidiary of the Issuer of certain assets of Pelago, Inc.”
Put together, these moves create a clear picture of a company Groupon taking steps to build an experienced management, an impressive bullpen of subsidiaries, and plenty of funding in an effort to look as attractive as possible to investors in preparation for an IPO.
Listed on the form are Groupon’s board members Eric Lefosky, Brad Keywell and Kevin Efrusy, as well as new board member and Starbucks founder Howard Schultz — among others.
The daily deals site turned down a reported $6 billion offer from Google in December, and has raised $1.146 billion to date.
We will update as we learn more.