nCrowd, Inc., the Atlanta-based parent company of social commerce websites
HalfOffDepot.com and CrowdSavings.com has purchased the assets of Seattle-based Tippr.com and
Groupalicious.com.
Brian Conley, CEO of nCrowd, stated that the acquisition was nCrowd’s largest to date. “The addition of Tippr
and Groupalicious brings our active subscriber base to over 3.2 million in the U.S,” said Conley.
Over the past two years, nCrowd has purchased the assets of more than 20 U.S. daily deal sites in order to attain
a broad audience for its proprietary Automated Internet Marketing (AIM) platform.
Martin Tobias, founder and CEO of Tippr’s and Groupalicious’ parent company, Kashless, LLC, said that the
company chose to sell to nCrowd because the offer included an equity as well as a cash component. “The AIM
platform provides merchants a comprehensive Internet and social media marketing solution,” said Tobias. “In
our opinion, the value nCrowd provides merchants far exceeds what anyone else in the space can offer.”
According to Conley, the acquisition of Tippr and Groupalicious solidifies nCrowd as the third largest domestic
online player in the local coupon space, behind Groupon and LivingSocial.
“With this acquisition, we will feature quality local offers from New York to Honolulu and most major points
between,” said Conley. “And when merchants in our new markets see what our platform can do for them, we’re
confident they will recognize that we offer an unparalleled value proposition.”
Half Off Depot and CrowdSavings.com have merged and rebranded the new company as nCrowd, Inc. This marks the 19th acquisition of the combined entity, demonstrating its ability to play the role of consolidator in the growing online local marketing industry. The combined entity will have more than 2 million consumer members nationwide and will offer local merchants a comprehensive platform for customer acquisition and retention.
“Since inception, our vision has been to help local merchants attract and retain great customers,” said Brian Conley, CEO of nCrowd, “the joining of CrowdSavings.com to Half Off Depot on the AIM (Automated Internet Marketing) platform brings this vision much closer to reality.”
“The AIM platform is extremely merchant-centric”, said Chad Jaquays, CEO of Crowdsavings.com. “While CrowdSavings.com was doing great things for our customers, it became clear to me that Half Off Depot and the AIM platform was way ahead in serving the online and social marketing needs of merchants,” Jaquays said.
Half Off Depot has been selected as a venture spotlight presenter at the 2012 Venture Atlanta conference, one of the largest technology investor events in the Southeast. Entering its 12th year, Venture Atlanta has assisted in helping Georgia technology companies raise nearly $1 billion in capital.
Half Off Depot is one of the 20 venture spotlight companies chosen that reflect a wide range of technologies and highlight the innovation of Georgia businesses.
“Venture Atlanta is the premier investor showcase in one of the top markets for developing and growing marketing technology companies,” said Brian Conley, CEO of Half Off Depot. “We are excited to present how Half Off Depot technology is helping local merchants reach consumers through online marketing.”
Half Off Depot provides local merchants an easy to use, cost effective, and risk-free method to market to consumers online. The Half Off Depot patent pending Automated Internet Marketing engine is specifically designed to engage, convert, and retain customers by targeting them with compelling online offers across advertising, email, search, and social media channels.
Lance Weatherby, COO of Half Off Depot, will be presenting at the conference.
Half Off Depot has acquired Dealmobs, a group buying and social commerce company focused on the Georgia and South Carolina marketplaces. The acquisition further expands Half Off Depot’s rapidly growing footprint in the Southeast and gives Dealmobs consumers access to Half Off Depot’s broad online store offerings.
Formed in 2010, Dealmobs provides Half Off Depot with a solid customer base and strong connections to local merchants in Athens, Georgia, as well as Charleston and Columbia, South Carolina. “We continue to expand rapidly and our acquisition of Dealmobs is a logical extension of our growth strategy,” said Brian Conley, CEO of Half Off Depot. “We are delighted to welcome the Dealmobs consumer and merchant communities to the Half Off Depot family. We believe our unique approach to connecting local businesses to new customers will lead them both to be equally excited.”
“Half Off Depot is a force in the fast growing local online marketing space with strong financials and great growth potential,” remarked Dealmobs co-founder Jim Flannery. “By joining forces with Half Off Depot we look forward to offering our merchant partners a leading online customer acquisition platform and continuing our core focus of strengthening the connection between merchants and consumers,” said dealmobs co-founder Sam Mylrea.
Half Off Depot, the Southeast’s leading online deal company, is pleased to announce its acquisition of Chicago-based Dealster, Inc. The purchase will serve to increase the size of Half Off Depot’s member base by 25 percent, extend the company’s social commerce capabilities and position Half Off Depot as a viable company in the online deal market. Dealster founder Alen Malkoc will be joining Half Off Depot. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Dealster marks the first acquisition for Half Off Depot. In addition to its membership base, Dealster’s value to Half Off Depot lies in its proprietary platform, which includes social elements for customers and merchants as well as other features currently on the Half Off Depot product roadmap. “We look forward to expanding the Dealster platform and extending the social capabilities that Dealster created,” says Brian Conley, CEO of Half Off Depot. “This acquisition positions Half Off Depot as a consolidator in the deal space. We are strategically expanding our capabilities and reach organically and through acquisitions. Our mission is to balance these growth opportunities with the needs and wants of our customers and merchants.”
“Out of all potential interested parties, including two public companies and other top five major participants in this category, Half Off Depot has the greatest growth potential,” remarks Dealster founder Alen Malkoc. “Half Off Depot is proving that their business works for consumers and merchants alike, and we feel Dealster can help achieve their short- and long-term goals.”
Half Off Depot, the leading online local deal company in the Southeast, today announced it has partnered with Google Offers to provide Half Off Depot’s great local deals to Google Offer customers. Google Offers will now feature Half Off Depot’s local experiences on its website, mobile application and emails to subscribers. Google Offers subscriber base will provide increased visibility for Half Off Depot’s merchant partners, enabling them to reach an even greater number of potential new customers.
“Our partnership with Google Offers is a demonstration of the strong following Half Off Depot has built with the merchants and consumers that we serve,” said Brian Conley, CEO of Half Off Depot. “We are extremely excited to offer our great local deals to millions of more customers in the cities that we serve and to expand the value we bring to merchants as their marketing partner.”
Half Off Depot is pleased to announce the appointment of Lance Weatherby as chief operating officer. He previously served as vice president of business development and sales for the company, guiding Half Off Depot’s third quarter expansion from two to six markets and making Half Off Depot the leading online deal company in the Southeast. Half Off Depot offers savvy consumers a broad range of local deals on the Internet and was recently recognized in USA Today’s top 10 listing of most visited daily-deals and group-buying websites.
“One of the most critical factors at a start up is having a strong, successful team. We have a great staff and are lucky to have Lance helping lead it,” says Brian Conley, CEO of Half Off Depot. “His contribution to the growth of our organization has been invaluable. Lance is familiar with the path we are on and helping start ups mature and grow, so I am confidant he will successfully help navigate the next phase of strategic growth for Half Off Depot.”
Lance previously served as startup and venture catalyst at the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), the science and business incubator at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He has a proven track record leading successful start-up companies: first as chief marketing officer of CipherTrust, which was acquired by Secure Computing for $274 million and then as executive vice president at Earthlink, formerly Mindspring, where he oversaw their launch into mobile, among other initiatives. Lance joined Mindspring in its infancy in a business development role and contributed to the company’s early growth, eventually leading the organization’s customer base growth from 340,000 to 1.3 million customers as executive vice president of sales and marketing.
Recent Success Driven By Market Expansion in Southeast
ATLANTA – Within a few months of receiving notable venture funding from Noro-Moseley Partners, BLH Venture Partners and Linch Capital, Half Off Depot, the leading southeast online deal company, is growing significantly through targeted market expansion and member growth. With success in its current cities – Atlanta, Knoxville and recently-launched Tampa – the company is accelerating its expansion into three new Southeastern cities in the third quarter of 2011, providing merchants and customers across the region with a unique deals platform.
As part of its strategic growth strategy, Half Off Depot expects third quarter market expansion into Charlotte, Nashville, and Orlando to be met with enthusiasm and adoption from customers and merchants.
“In today’s market, we know consumers want to save money and the majority of the daily deal offerings fall flat. We’re on to something unique in that we give consumers shopping freedom and choice through our online marketplace, where deals are live longer than 24-48 hours. We’re extremely proud of the growth that we have seen in such a short period of time, and we are confident that we have the right formula to gain more traction as we roll out in new markets,” says Brian Conley, CEO of Half Off Depot.
Success by the Numbers
Half Off Depot is proud of its considerable success in current markets, as evidenced by its 30 percent increase in revenue growth over the last quarter. The company is also seeing tremendous escalation in member numbers, deal sharing from customers, merchant participation and satisfaction, and web traffic. Year-over-year, the company has seen web traffic increase by 82 percent, with 50 percent of visits coming from new users.
“Our competitive advantage is that we understand the challenges associated with running a small business, and we strive to provide a cost-effective solution to acquire new customers for our merchants that turn into loyal repeat customers,” adds Conley.
Internet Industry Veteran Lance Weatherby to Lead Sales and Market Expansion
ATLANTA, May 17, 2011 – Half Off Depot, an Atlanta-based social commerce company announced today that it has secured $7 million in series A funding. Led by Noro-Moseley Partners, BLH Venture Partners, and Linch Capital also participated in the round. The investment will be used to support further technology development, sales growth and market expansion.
“Half Off Depot offers merchants something more than consumers who are just shopping for deals,” said Alan Taetle, general partner at Noro-Moseley. “The company harnesses a trend in which local marketing spend is being re-allocated from traditional media to online outlets. It provides merchants a cost-effective way to acquire customers, build online presence, and generate repeat purchases,” he added.
“Not only will the Noro-Moseley led investment help accelerate the already robust revenue growth at Half Off, it also brings with it access to Alan Taetle’s expertise,” said Brian Conley, CEO of Half Off Depot. “The combination serves as the groundwork for building a significant enterprise,” he added.
Lance Weatherby, a 16-year Internet veteran, participated in the fund raising and has joined the company’s executive team as vice president of business development and sales. In this role, Weatherby will bring his extensive experience growing revenues at early-stage companies to Half Off Depot. He has served in executive roles at MindSpring, EarthLink, and CipherTrust. “Of the hundreds of start-ups I have had the opportunity to meet these last few years, this is one of the most exciting and promising,” noted Weatherby. “I am eager to come in and accelerate Half Off Depot’s growth alongside the team as well as renewing the working relationship Alan and I enjoyed at MindSpring.”
Social Commerce Site to Offer 10 Percent Off for Black Friday
Atlanta – November 17, 2010 – Each year, millions of consumers flock to shopping malls and major retailers the day after Thanksgiving with the hopes of finding the best deals of the holiday season, and while Black Friday’s roots run as deep as the 1960’s, the current economic environment has shoppers being as budget-conscious as ever.
The National Retail Federation reported that 40 percent of shoppers will be keeping sales and discounts in mind during their holiday shopping this year. However, getting the best deal doesn’t necessarily mean having to bear the crowds on Black Friday. Instead, savvy consumers are turning to websites like Half Off Depot to find great discounts from the comfort of their own homes.
Sarah Baker, an Atlanta mother of two, uses Half Off Depot to buy holiday gifts for a host of friends and family members.
“My friends and family lead very busy lives, so when the holidays roll around, I like to encourage them to do something for themselves, and Half Off Depot makes that easy and affordable,” said Baker. “On one site, I can get restaurant certificates for my foodie friends, skydiving lessons for the daredevils, basketball tickets for the fanatics, and a surprise bed and breakfast getaway complete with wine tasting for my husband and myself!”
Rebecca Tatum of Tennessee says her family does the same.
“As a one-income family, we have to be creative to make ends meet during the holidays. With Half Off Depot, we can give great gifts without breaking our budget,” said Tatum.
Currently available in more than 30 markets across the US and Canada, Half Off Depot features a virtual shopping mall of deals from 50-90 percent off at shops, restaurants, bars, attractions and events.
The idea is simple: Half Off Depot partners with local businesses to offer products and services at a major discount. Consumers are then given the option to buy the deal for themselves or as a gift for someone else. After a deal is bought, the buyer either prints a voucher or waits for a gift certificate in the mail. Then, when it’s time to redeem, they simply present the voucher to the merchant.
Half Off Depot has already saved consumers across its 30+ markets nearly $5 million to date in 2010 alone, and the company expects that number to significantly increase as the holiday season approaches.
Last year, Half Off Depot saw a drastic increase in revenue during the holiday season, particularly during Black Friday, when average daily revenue increased by almost 450 percent.
“The holiday shopping landscape is changing drastically, and frugal consumers are refusing to pay full price for items they could easily get at a discount,” said Patrick Best, president of Half Off Depot. “It’s this budget-savvy mindset that has allowed Half Off Depot to grow and thrive.”
In order to save consumers even more money as the holiday shopping season kicks off next week, Half Off Depot will offer a Black Friday coupon code. For an additional 10 percent off the website’s already great deals, shoppers should use the code “blackfriday” during checkout from November 26-30. To begin shopping, visit www.halfoffdepot.com.
