Groupon Acquires Hyperpublic – Enhanced Geo Location Technology

Hyperpublic brings geo location technology to the table

Late last week Groupon announced that it had acquired Hyperpublic. Hyperpublic is based in New York City and has spent the last two years building technology related to geo location and the social events (such as deals and venues). Terms of the deal have not been disclosed, but Jordon Cooper, Hyperpublic’s Chief Executive Officer, believes that it is a huge win for our team and our investors.

The main platform of will be shut down although maintenance and support will continue through March 2nd, 2012. All data is scheduled for deletion after that date. The Hyperpublic homepage features this message from management;

“Today is an INSANE day! We are so proud to announce that Hyperpublic has been acquired by the rocket ship that is Groupon. This is a huge win for our team, our investors, and everyone who contributed to our company over the past two years. We set out to change the way people interacted with the local environment, and are pumped to continue that mission as a part of one of the fastest growing and most disruptive companies in the world. Two years ago, huddled around a few borrowed desks in the offices of Lerer Ventures (thank you!), we decided to throw our hats into the fast changing world of local data and discovery. We talked about Groupon as a force that was defining our market. We are elated to join forces and to contribute to Groupon’s continued success. Thanks to everyone who helped us get to this point and special thanks to all of our investors and advisors. Let’s do this.”

Hyperpublic’s humble beginnings

Hyperpublic was founded in 2010 by Jordan Cooper and Doug Petkanics. That same year, the company raised $1.15 million in venture capital funding and was also helped along by board members Jordan Levy (Softbank Capital) and Ken Lerer (Lerer Ventures). Under Doug’s technological leadership, Hyperpublic ventured into the engineering side of social media via geo location technology.

Jordan points out that Hyperpublic is a decidedly tech heavy company. The company has more application programming interfaces (APIs) than it does user facing services. This breaks tradition with stereotypical startups being predominantly focused on social platforms and media rather than on building hard technology.

It also turns out that Jordan Cooper is a General Partner at Lerer Ventures. Mr. Cooper will continue his role at Lerer, but will also be assuming a role with Groupon (the specifics of that role have not yet been disclosed). It does appear that a portion of Hyperpublic’s team will be heading west to Groupon’s engineering offices in California. Sources suggest that Mr. Cooper will be spending a lot of time in California as well.

 Source: ITGawker