Groupon raises $500 million, following failed Google bid

Groupon raises $500 million, following failed Google bid
(Getty/Scott Olson)
Groupon raises $500 million, following failed Google bid
(Getty/Scott Olson)

Groupon raises $500 million, following failed Google bid

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Momentum continues to build for Chicago-based Groupon.  The fast-growing Internet startup has raised more than half of the $950 million it is planning to collect in its latest financing round.

The Chicago company said in a regulatory filing Thursday it’s raised $500 million thus far and plans to use up to $344.5 million of the proceeds to buy back shares from existing shareholders, including founder and CEO Andrew
Mason.

The money is being raised just a few weeks after Google Inc.’s failed attempt to buy 2-year-old Groupon for a reported $6 billion.

Previous funding - $135 million - came from Mail.ru Group, also known as Digital Sky Technologies, a Russian Internet investment firm that also holds a stake in Facebook.

Groupon is a web-based promotion company that uses social networking and crowdsourcing to activate targeted discounts for participating retailers, services and cultural attractions.