Growing Opportunities for Publishers in Daily Deal Market Prompts Added InvestmentNEW YORK, May 13, 2011 -- Group Commerce Inc., a full-service group buying and social commerceplatform, today announced a second round of funding to support its rapid growth in the fast-expanding$4 billion group buying market. Spark Capital and Carmel Ventures participated in the second round offunding, totaling $10 million, and building upon the investors' funding of $8 million earlier this year.“Since our launch, Group Commerce has increased its work on behalf of current customers, andreceived significant interest from additional publishers looking to enter this market,” said Jonty Kelt,CEO of Group Commerce. “In order to scale to meet that demand, we have accelerated our growth byundertaking a round of secondary funding. This new infusion will allow us to aggressively build out ourtechnology and services capacity in the coming months.”A white-label platform, Group Commerce allows publishers and media companies to directly participatein the world of social commerce, rather than through an affiliate deal with a B2C group-buying service.By creating their own deal programs, publishers can leverage their deep relationships with theiraudiences to curate deals – better meeting the needs of local merchants looking for tangible waysto drive sales and increase awareness. By running deals with publishers whose readers fit into themerchant’s target demographic, the likelihood of return customers – and lifetime value - is significantlyhigher.“We are thrilled at the opportunity to deepen our relationship with Group Commerce,” said ToddDagres, General Partner of Spark Capital. “They have experienced considerable growth over the courseof the last few months, and we believe they are well-situated to continue this trajectory as the socialcommerce industry matures.”Founded by former Google and DoubleClick executives David Rosenblatt, Jonty Kelt, and AndrewGlenn, Group Commerce is already powering deal programs for numerous top publishers, includingDailyCandy, Meredith Corporation, The New York Times, and Thrillist. Following deployment, clients areexperiencing significant benefits, including high engagement and conversion rates, an increase in newregistered users, and a larger share of financial returns.ABOUT GROUP COMMERCEGroup Commerce Inc. is a white-label, full-service group buying platform built for the uniqueneeds of publishers and merchants. Founded in 2010, its social commerce technology is alreadyin use by several of the industry's most respected brands. Backed by leading venture capitalfirms and other top investors, the Company is based in New York (City). For more information,visit www.groupcommerce.com.