Groupon clone of the day: Groupalia

Putting a little Latin flavor in group buying

On the 12^th day of Christmas my true love gave to me…a discount on an oil change at Wal-Mart.  Today’s final Groupon clone of the day is Groupalia, a Spanish-language Groupon clone with footholds in Spain, Italy (not Spanish-speaking, I know), Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, and Chile. 

The site offers discounts ranging from 40-90% off on everything from dining experiences to activities, health and beauty treatments, massages, wine and food, travel, and more.  I don’t speak Spanish, so I’m hoping all of that is accurate based on what I could gauge from the pictures.  Each offer is active for 24 hours and requires a minimum number of participants to sign up in order to activate the deal.

Founded in 2009, the company recently raised a €5 million round of financing in October from Nauta Capital and La Caixa. Prior to that, Groupalia raised €2.5 million from Nauta Capital and La Caixa, with help from angel investors Lucas Carné, Jose Manuel Villanueva, and from Groupalia’s CEO Joaquin Engel. 

Daily deal sites are taking off in a big way in Latin America, where Groupon, itself, recently expanded over the summer, acquiring Chilean daily deals company ClanDescuento, which was rebranded as ClubeUrbano in Brazil.  That was followed by recent launches in Mexico, Argentina, Peru, and more.

Julio Vasconcellos, a Brazilian entrepreneur who used his experience from a tech startup in Silicon Valley to create a group-buying platform in Brazil, told AdAge that Latin American consumers—specifically Brazilian consumers—are not like Americans. 

"People like entertainment deals a lot more," he said. "And they're more spontaneous. Brazilians tend to plan less. Buying a coupon for a restaurant to use in two months seems so far ahead. Specific things in the near future tend to do really well, like happy hour at a bar."

Vasconcellos founded Peixe Urbano, which is Portuguese for “Urban Fish,” a collective buying platform that now has some 5 million registered users, 300 employees, and recently launched in its 30^th city, Manaus. 

With one million users and 100 employees, Groupalia’s goals are to reach two million users and a turnover of five million euros.

Image source: groupalia.es