LivingSocial

History

LivingSocial was founded as Hungry Machine in 2007 by four employees from Revolution Health Group. After acquiring BuyYourFriendADrink.com in 2009, LivingSocial launched a daily deals website. The company offered its first deal in July 2009. By July 2010, the company had launched deals in 25 cities.

By 2011, LivingSocial had raised over $800 million in venture capital funds. That same year, the company generated $238 million in revenue but lost $499 million. In 2012, a class action lawsuit was filed against LivingSocial with respect to the expiration of deals, following a similar action against Groupon. A provisional settlement was reached in November 2012.

In 2012, the Government of the District of Columbia offered the company a number of tax breaks and incentives to open offices and hire workers in Washington, DC. However, a year later the company did not reach the size it needed to be for the tax breaks to kick in, as it had begun laying off workers and subleased offices it purchased earlier. The company also announced it was changing its focus from daily deals to a website and mobile app.

On April 26, 2013, it was announced that LivingSocial's database had been hacked, affecting 50 million registered users. While the announcement stated that credit card information not compromised, other user information including passwords was exposed. On May 1, 2013, the Attorneys General of Connecticut and Maryland sent a joint letter to LivingSocial requesting additional information about the incident, as well as more details about the company's data management policies and procedures.

By 2015, LivingSocial had 800 employees, down from a peak of 4,500 in 2011. In 2016, it laid off half of its remaining workforce. That year, The Washington Post reported that many laid off or departed workers formed new tech companies in LivingSocial's home city of Washington, DC.