Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Groupon Raises Like, a Billion Dollars and Acquires it's Way into India, Israel and South Africa


Groupon Raises, Like, A Billion Dollars
Investment to Continue Rapid Growth of Global Social Commerce Platform

Today Groupon announced that it has completed a $950 million round of financing. Groupon will use the funds to fuel global expansion, invest in technology, and provide liquidity for employees and early investors.
“We’re thrilled that Groupon has earned the confidence of some of the world’s most respected investment firms”
The financing consists of several venture capital firms and late-stage investors, including Andreessen Horowitz, Battery Ventures, DST, Greylock Partners, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Maverick Capital, Silver Lake and Technology Crossover Ventures. Allen & Company LLC acted as financial advisor. Previous funding rounds were led by New Enterprise Associates, Accel Partners, Mail.ru Group and DST.
In the last year, Groupon has been called “the fastest growing company ever” by Forbes Magazine and “America’s best website” by one of Groupon’s television commercials. In 2010, Groupon:

  • Expanded from 1 to 35 countries
  • Launched in almost 500 new markets (from 30 markets in 2009)
  • Grew subscribers by 2,500% from 2 million to over 50 million
  • Saved consumers over $1.5 billion
  • Worked with 58,000 local businesses, serving over 100,000 deals worldwide
“We’re thrilled that Groupon has earned the confidence of some of the world’s most respected investment firms,” said Andrew Mason, founder and CEO of Groupon. “With their support, we will continue on our mission to change the way people shop locally and serve the world’s local businesses.”
About Groupon
Groupon, launched in November 2008 in Chicago, features a daily deal on the best stuff to do, eat, see and buy in more than 500 markets around the world. Groupon uses collective buying power to offer unbeatable prices and provide a win-win for businesses and consumers, delivering more than 650 daily deals globally. For more information, visit http://www.groupon.com. To learn more on how to become a featured business on Groupon, visit http://www.grouponworks.com.

Acquisition of leading local deal sites widens global footprint to five continents served

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Groupon (http://www.groupon.com) announces the launch of Groupon India, Groupon Israel and Groupon South Africa via acquisition of daily deal sites SoSasta (http://www.sosasta.com), Grouper (http://www.grouper.co.il) and Twangoo (http://www.twangoo.co.za), respectively. Terms of the deals were not disclosed.
“Groupon is shaping the way local merchants market themselves in every corner of the world.”
Using the principles of collective buying, Groupon negotiates unprecedented discounts with popular businesses and shares them with subscribers via free daily emails. The deals are activated only when a minimum number of people agree to buy, encouraging subscribers to share the promotion with family and friends. By guaranteeing a large number of new customers, Groupon has created a powerful new marketing vehicle for local merchants in thousands of cities worldwide. This innovative approach to e-commerce has brought millions of dollars in new revenue to local businesses while saving more than $1.5 billion for consumers around the world.
The acquisitions continue Groupon’s rapid global growth and extend its reach across India, the Middle East and South Africa. In just three months since launch, SoSasta has grown to run daily deals in 11 Indian cities. Serving Tel Aviv and surrounding cities since March 2010, Grouper is widely recognized as the first and largest deal site in Israel. Twangoo has rapidly grown to serve the most cities of any deal site in South Africa. All three sites will transition to the Groupon brand name and site design in coming months, and will serve deals in the local communities’ primary languages: English in India and South Africa and Hebrew in Israel.
“Collective buying is in its infancy in India, Israel and South Africa and we see strong potential,” said Rob Solomon, president and chief operating officer of Groupon. “Groupon is shaping the way local merchants market themselves in every corner of the world.”
Groupon India, Groupon Israel, and Groupon South Africa will join Groupon’s global network, which offers unbeatable deals to more than 50 million subscribers in 40 countries. Groupon employs more than 4,000 people worldwide.
http://www.groupon.com/

Contacts

Julie Mossler
Groupon
1 312-242-2033
Julie@groupon.com
Permalink: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110110006746/en/CORRECTING-REPLACING-Groupon-Raises-Billion-Dollars


About Groupon
Groupon, launched in November 2008 in Chicago, features a daily deal on the best stuff to do, eat, see and buy in more than 500 markets around the world. Groupon uses collective buying power to offer unbeatable prices and provide a win-win for businesses and consumers, delivering more than 650 daily deals globally. For more information, visit http://www.groupon.com.

Contacts

Groupon
Julie Mossler
312-242-2033
julie@groupon.com
Permalink: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110111005817/en/Groupon-Expands-Local-Commerce-Platform-India-Israel



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MasterCard Holiday Shopping Survey Highlights Consumers’ “Return to Fun”

MasterCardImage via Wikipedia

MasterCard Holiday Shopping Survey Highlights Consumers’ “Return to Fun”

Fifty-Three Percent (53%) of Consumers Bought Both Fun and Practical Gifts This Holiday Season as Spirits Lifted and the Economy Recovered
PURCHASE, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MasterCard Worldwide today released survey results that reveal how consumers demonstrated a “return to fun” this holiday season as they purchased a combination of gifts that were both pragmatic and pleasurable. The MasterCard Holiday Shopping Survey – which was conducted by Harris Interactive – showed that most holiday shoppers (53%) planned to give a fairly equal mix of fun and practical gifts, while only 30% said that they gave mostly practical gifts. Also, about half (49%) of shoppers bought something for themselves this holiday season, with electronics (26%) and personal pampering (21%) being the top “guilty pleasures” consumers would like to receive.
MasterCard Worldwide
“In addition, social networks and mobile phones will continue to heavily influence how consumers shop in the years to come.”
“This holiday season was not a ‘Crockpot’ Christmas,” said Melody Miller, Group Head, Commerce Solutions, MasterCard Worldwide. “While last year’s shopping was about looking for the best value for the most practical gifts, this year we saw consumers shop for more fun items as their spirits lifted.”
Consumers also took full advantage of the online marketplace not only for the convenience, deals and comfort of shopping online, but also to determine what to buy and where. Thirty-four percent (34%) of Americans aged 18-24 years who planned to shop for the holiday season said they used social networks to get ideas about which gifts to buy, while 25% said that they used social networks to get ideas about where to buy gifts. Mobile phones were also a hot resource for shoppers, as 37% used mobile phones to inform purchases and 22% used their devices to find the best prices.
“Consumers relied heavily on online shopping sites -- like MasterCard Marketplace -- to find the best deals and value -- not to mention save time and cut through the busy holiday clutter,” said Miller. “In addition, social networks and mobile phones will continue to heavily influence how consumers shop in the years to come.”
Shopping into the New Year
Results also showed that consumers plan to continue shopping after the Christmas holiday. In fact, 25% of holiday shoppers planned to hold off purchasing gifts before Christmas so that they could take advantage of post-holiday sales. Of those who were waiting, almost half (43%) will be shopping for themselves, their spouse/partner (35%) and children (34%). More men (50%) than women (36%) plan to shop for themselves after the holidays.
In 2011, 61% of shoppers do not plan to cut back on spending in the New Year as a result of holiday shopping. But 76% of respondents plan to shop differently. The top two ways shoppers plan to shop differently are to take advantage of more sales (51%) and to start shopping ahead of time (49%).
In regards to what would make online shopping easier next holiday season, top responses included more free shipping (58%), more discounts (52%), having one site to go to get deals from their favorite brands (42%), faster shipping (40%) and emailed coupons or flyers from specific online merchants (40%).
Gender Differences Found in how Men and Women Shopped
The survey demonstrated distinct differences between the ways men and women shopped this holiday season. Women appeared more likely to ask recipients what they wanted, but were also more likely to keep gifts they liked most for themselves. Men started their holiday shopping later, were less stressed about last minute shopping and planned to shop more for themselves in the New Year. As of December 19, 34% of male shoppers said they hadn’t started their holiday shopping yet compared to only 19% of women. Additionally, 72% of males who planned to shop were not at all stressed about the fact that they hadn’t started shopping yet, compared to 55% of women.
Survey Methodology
The survey was conducted for MasterCard by Harris Interactive. From December 15, 2010 through December 19, 2010, Harris Interactive conducted telephone interviews with 1,019 adults countrywide age 18 and over. Survey results were weighted to the total US adult population.
About MasterCard Worldwide
As a leading global payments company, MasterCard Worldwide prides itself on being at the heart of commerce, helping to make life easier and more efficient for everyone, everywhere. MasterCard serves as a franchisor, processor and advisor to the payments industry, and makes commerce happen by providing a critical economic link among financial institutions, governments, businesses, merchants, and cardholders worldwide. In 2009, $2.5 trillion in gross dollar volume was generated on its products by consumers around the world. Powered by the MasterCard Worldwide Network – the fastest payment processing network in the world – MasterCard processes over 22 billion transactions each year, has the capacity to handle 140 million transactions per hour, with an average network response time of 140 milliseconds and with 99.99 percent reliability. MasterCard advances global commerce through its family of brands, including MasterCard®, Maestro®, and Cirrus®; its suite of core products such as credit, debit, and prepaid; and its innovative platforms and functionalities, such as MasterCard PayPass™ and MasterCard inControl™. MasterCard serves consumers, governments, and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories. For more information, please visit us at www.mastercard.com. Follow us on Twitter: @mastercardnews.

Contacts

Media:
MasterCard Worldwide
Sarah Ely, +1 914-249-6714
sarah_ely@mastercard.com
Permalink: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110111005516/en/MasterCard-Holiday-Shopping-Survey-Highlights-Consumers%E2%80%99-%E2%80%9CReturn



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Catalina Card Services Launches the New InFusion Prepaid MasterCard® Card


DANVILLE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Catalina Card Services, an innovative provider of prepaid cards, today introduced the InFusion Prepaid MasterCard, a new payment card product that helps consumers safeguard their payroll, government benefits and cash.

The new InFusion Prepaid MasterCard works similar to a checkless checking account to provide fast and easy bill payment, safe FDIC insured deposits and card account access via a MasterCard card. However, InFusion goes a step further to also offer simple, quick and easy, low cost nationwide mobile phone services.
Matt Montes, President of Catalina says, “Our Infusion Prepaid MasterCard offers our customers a safe place to deposit their payroll or benefits in addition to the worldwide purchasing strength that comes with a MasterCard card. Our InFusion Prepaid MasterCard Card is designed to appeal to those who are unhappy with their current financial institution as well as those working hard to get a fresh start. At InFusion, we only care about our customer’s future, not their past – so everyone* is welcome and we never do a credit or ChexSystem’s review.”
Montes who was the founder of AccountNow - one of the original and leading prepaid card companies in the U.S. - has made it Catalina’s mission to push forward the development of prepaid cards with a focus on delivering value and features that exceed what is available today. Montes says, “Our goal is not only to offer valuable low cost financial services that work similar to a checking account but to also lower our customers’ total cost of living so that they can live better. Services like unlimited nationwide low cost mobile plans are just the beginning. Our InFusion Prepaid MasterCard Card is leading the way in prepaid advancement.”
Consumers interested in signing up for the InFusion Prepaid MasterCard Card can visit www.infusioncard.com.
InFusion Prepaid MasterCard Cards are issued by MetaBank™, a federally chartered savings bank (NASDAQ NM: CASH) Pursuant to license by MasterCard International Incorporated. MasterCard is a registered trademark of MasterCard International Incorporated. Funds are insured up to $250,000 by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
About Catalina Card Services, Inc.
Catalina Card Services, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Catalina Payment Systems, Inc., is dedicated to providing innovative custom prepaid solutions through partnerships and directly to the millions of financially underserved consumers in the U.S. through its InFusion™, Payroll safe. Credit ready. Prepaid cards.
Founded in 2006, Catalina has a proven successful management team and a proprietary prepaid debit platform that allows Catalina to deliver innovative, first class solutions to its partners and customers.
For more information, visit www.catalinapaymentsystems.com or www.infusioncard.com.
* The USA PATRIOT Act is a Federal law that requires all financial institutions to obtain, verify, and record information that identifies each person who opens an account. You will be asked to provide your name, address, date of birth, and other information that will allow us to identify you. You may also be asked to provide documentation as proof of identification. "100% Approval" and "No one is Turned Down" is contingent upon successfully passing this mandatory identification confirmation.
Consumers should visit www.myfico.com to better understand their credit score.

Contacts

Catalina Card Services, Inc.
Matt Montes, 925-828-9990
mmontes@catalinapaymentsystems.com
www.infusioncard.com
Permalink: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110111005651/en/Catalina-Card-Services-Launches-InFusion-Prepaid-MasterCard%C2%AE



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Moggle, Inc. Launches Virtual Piggy™ Technology Designed to Create Secure Solution for Youth on the Internet


Company Enters Growing Market for Children’s Online Security and Spending

PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Moggle, Inc. (OTCBB: MMOG - News) ("Moggle" or the "Company"), an innovative technology company that delivers a security platform for children under the age of 18 in the global online market, today announced the release of its Virtual Piggy™ technology that allows children to transact with online merchants, games and social networks in a safe environment under parent supervision.
http://www.playmoggle.com
“Moggle is at the forefront of developing platform architectures that create a safer environment for children online”
Moggle’s Virtual Piggy provides an online payment profile that allows parents to setup, monitor and control their children’s spending online. Parents and guardians can determine how much the child can spend in a single transaction, or over time and also control the merchants with which the child can transact. Parents also have the ability to setup approval rules and notification methods. Virtual Piggy tracks all spending and parents can receive alerts and reports on patterns for when and where funds are spent. Virtual Piggy was developed in response to the growing need for parents to allow their children to transact online in a controlled manner as a result of an increasing number of online services and products targeted towards children.
Virtual Piggy has been certified by the Chase Paymentech™ system and can process transactions from all major credit and debit card systems, including MasterCard, Visa, and American Express. Chase Paymentech is a subsidiary of JPMorgan Chase, and a global leader in payment processing and merchant acquiring. Virtual Piggy™ is hosted on the Microsoft Azure platform, which provides security, robustness and reliability. Moggle plans to extend Virtual Piggy's payment processing ability to other payment processors.
“Moggle is at the forefront of developing platform architectures that create a safer environment for children online” stated Dr. Jo Webber, Chairman of Moggle, Inc. “In 2009, an estimated $26 billion was spent by children on online purchases, a figure that is expected to grow. Many of these purchases were incurred without adult supervision and lead to accidental buying sprees for virtual games and goods using parents’ credit cards. With the launch of Virtual Piggy we have developed an easy to use, seamless system that allows parents to monitor and guide their children’s spending and make their online experience safe and enjoyable.”
For more information about Moggle’s Virtual Piggy and technology platforms, please visit the Company’s website at http://virtualpiggy.com.
About Moggle, Inc.
Moggle, Inc. delivers a technology platform designed for the management of the Under 18 age group in the global online market. The Moggle technology enables online businesses to function in a manner consistent with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”) and similar international children’s privacy laws. Moggle technology enables the Under 18 audience to play, transact and socialize in a secure online environment guided by parental permission, oversight and control. Moggle’s first two patent-pending products are Virtual Piggy and Parent Match™. For more information about Moggle, please visit the Company’s website at: http://virtualpiggy.com
Safe Harbor Statement
All statements in this news release other than statements of historical facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We have attempted to identify any forward-looking statements by using words such as "anticipates," "believes," "could," "expects," "intends," "may," "should" and other similar expressions. These statements are based upon our current expectations and speak only as of the date hereof. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in our forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Such statements are not guarantees of future performance or events and are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results, events or financial position to differ materially and adversely from those expressed in such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to, our ability to raise additional capital, the absence of any operating history or revenue, our ability to attract and retain qualified personnel, our dependence on third party developers who we can not control, our ability to develop and introduce a new service to the market, market acceptance of our services, our limited experience in a relatively new industry, the recent economic slowdown affecting technology companies, the ability to successfully develop licensing programs and generate business, rapid technological change in relevant markets, changes in demand for current and future intellectual property rights, legislative, regulatory and competitive developments addressing licensing and enforcement of patents and/or intellectual property, general economic conditions, and other factors disclosed in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009 and other filings with the SEC. We undertake no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements for any reason.

Contacts

Company:
Moggle, Inc.
Danielle Bastian, +1 215-247-5500
info@playmoggle.com
www.virtualpiggy.com
or
Investor Relations:
Hampton Growth, LLC
Andrew Haag, +1-877-368-3566
Managing Partner, USA
mmog@hamptongrowth.com
www.hamptongrowth.com
Permalink: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110111005547/en/Moggle-Launches-Virtual-Piggy%E2%84%A2-Technology-Designed-Create



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GlobalCollect Appoints New Chief Executive Officer and Chief Commercial Officer


The world's premier payment service provider of local e-payments, GlobalCollect, announces the appointment of Thomas Staudt as CEO and Koen Vanpraet as CCO

AMSTERDAM--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Effective immediately, Thomas Staudt is CEO of GlobalCollect. This follows the recent development of Jan Manten, former CEO, changing his role to become Chairman of the Board of Directors of Cerceris BV, the holding company of GlobalCollect. Mr. Staudt is a business veteran with over 25 years of experience in leading global companies to success through strategic repositioning. His previous roles include CEO of Ruesch International, Inc., CEO of MedE America, and COO of Card Establishment Services.
http://www.globalcollect.com
“We are delighted to welcome Thomas and Koen to the company as well as to the Board. Both have a proven track record within their respective field of expertise and are predestined to advance GlobalCollect’s standing as a leading Payment Service Provider, thanks to their business acumen.”
In addition, Koen Vanpraet has started as CCO of GlobalCollect. Mr. Vanpraet has built a successful career in Sales, Business Development, and Marketing within the international technology environment. Most recently, he held the position of Global Sales & Marketing Director at Easynet Global Services, preceded by several executive positions at Hewlett-Packard and Xerox.
Jan Manten, Chairman of the Board, said: “We are delighted to welcome Thomas and Koen to the company as well as to the Board. Both have a proven track record within their respective field of expertise and are predestined to advance GlobalCollect’s standing as a leading Payment Service Provider, thanks to their business acumen.
”E-commerce figures continued to show a double-digit growth rate throughout 2010. With well over 200 million payment transactions and a 50% surge in transaction volume during the 2010 holiday season, GlobalCollect mirrored this trend. With Thomas at the helm to oversee the overall growth strategy and Koen driving targeted Sales and Marketing initiatives, we are confident that GlobalCollect is well positioned for the future.”
# End #
About GlobalCollect
GlobalCollect is the world's premier Payment Service Provider of local e-payment solutions for international Customer Not-Present (CNP) channels such as internet, mail and telephone orders, and specializes in a wide range of industries such as travel, ticketing, telecommunications, retail, publishing, portals, online gaming, and digital content. While most providers limit their services to a technical link with payment acquirers, GlobalCollect is a full service partner consulting clients on how to increase transaction volumes, expand distribution channels, and reduce costs by streamlining back office processes. Through a single-interface online payment platform, we offer access to an unrivalled portfolio of local and international payment methods in over 200 countries, including all major credit and debit cards, direct debits, bank transfers, real-time bank transfers, eWallets, cash at outlets, prepaid methods, checks, and invoices. www.globalcollect.com

Contacts

GlobalCollect
Bettina Duske
Senior Manager PR & Marketing Communications
tel: +31-(0)23 567 1500
e-mail: press.globalcollect@globalcollect.com
Permalink: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110111005154/en/GlobalCollect-Appoints-Chief-Executive-Officer-Chief-Commercial



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