Scoutmob, a location-based group deals company, plans to announce tomorrow that it has secured a first round of funding for $1.5 million, according to New Atlantic Ventures representatives, who led the funding. The new funding will be used to roll out its deal service to new cities, continue development and hire more employees.
The company appears to be an interesting mix of a group buying site, like Groupon or LivingSocial, and location-based deal service, like Foursquare or Facebook Places. Users can visit the company’s website and agree to receive email notifications for deals, or download the iPhone or Android applications. When a deal is available, the user can either send to their phone via text or access the deal within the application. To redeem, the user simple goes to that merchant’s location and shows them the deal on their phone.
Unlike traditional group buying sites where users have to buy the digital coupon upfront, Scoutmob creates coupons that are free to users. The company makes its money by charging the merchant when a coupon is redeemed, which is tracked by the GPS in a user’s phone.
In addition to the funding, Scoutmob also announced its expansion to 10 more cities across the U.S, including Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, Nashville, Portland, Seattle and Washington D.C. The company previously only had deals in San Francisco, New York and Atlanta.
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The Atlanta-based company, founded in 2010, secured the round of funding from New Atlantic Ventures. Scoutmob previously secured an undisclosed round from several Atlanta-based angel investors.
