Living Social Acquires Urban Escapes, Edges Ahead of Groupon

Jen Consalvo Oct 19, 2010 Tweet

In the crowded space of daily deals, there are two big players: LivingSocial and Groupon. Over the past few months, Groupon has received the lion’s share of attention due to their growth, investment and valuation. But it’s time to shine a light on DC-based LivingSocial, who earlier this year raised an additional $25 million in funding, and has used that funding to quietly grow their company in the background. According to Compete, for the first time LivingSocial is leading Groupon in monthly unique visitors, and today they announced the acquisition of social adventure company, Urban Escapes.

The deal will enable LivingSocial to offer exclusive adventure packages to their 10 million subscribers across the globe. According to the Urban Escapes blog, “Urban Escapes has been acquired to build and develop their new national and international adventures division.”  Tim O’Shaughnessy, CEO and Founder of Living Social stated:

“ With the acquisition of Urban Escapes, we will now have the ability to help curate some amazing experiences and adventures exclusively for our members.”

Urban Escapes, reminiscent of Jetsetter but a bit more quirky and unique, creates experiences such as “Zen Escape Yoga Hikes” and “Shootin’ & Drinkin’™, redefining social adventure to promote a fun and active lifestyle. Urban Escapes staff will work on five introductory markets designing and creating unique experiences for LivingSocial customers.

Tim O’Shaughnessy will be on hand, speaking at Tech Cocktail’s Startup Mixology Conference in Chicago on October 28th.