GoDaddy is acquiring Locu, a startup that helps local merchants publicize information about their businesses online, for $70 million in cash and stock, reports AllThingsD. Locu helps more than 30,000 local businesses manage listing data regarding their businesses on search engines and local review sites. The company has built profiles for more than one million businesses across the U.S., and reaches more than 200 million potential customers each month through partnerships with Yelp, YP.com, Foursquare, TripAdvisor, Facebook, CitySearch and OpenTable.
Locu allows local businesses to manage their identity and business information across multiple online and mobile sites, via a single interface.
Locu allows local businesses to manage their identity and business information across multiple online and mobile sites, via a single interface. The firm earns revenue from its licensing partners, and began charging $23 to $65 per month for a range of services in May 2013. Founded in 2011 by a group of MIT graduates, Locu is now headquartered in San Francisco, CA and has an additional office in Cambridge, MA. The company raised $4.6 million in funding from General Catalyst Partners (Lawrence Bohn, Nitesh Banta), Lightbank, Lowercase Capital, Quotidian Ventures and SV Angel. Locu’s 20-employee team reportedly will continue to operate out of its San Francisco and Cambridge offices, and will retain branding for the moment.
GoDaddy is a large domain name registrar and Web hosting provider with more than 56 million domain names under management, and over 11 million customers worldwide. The company’s web platform offers products designed for small businesses, including website building, SSL certification, online storage and ecommerce solutions.
For more information on Locu, click here. For more information on GoDaddy, click here.