Like everywhere else, the Japanese market is full of Groupon clones. Market share-wise, the “original” Groupon (Groupon Japan) is leading after it acquired one of its local clones earlier this year. It’s followed by Piku, the first Groupon-like service in this country.
But Japanese venture capital companies still see room for even more coupon services. CNET today reports that major VC firm JAFCO has just pumped 500 million Yen (US$6 million) into a Groupon clone called Luxa through a third-party allocation of shares.
Luxa was established as a separate entity just last month. Before, operations were run by a company called BizReach, which does something completely different: it’s essentially a job service for people looking for 10 million Yen+ salaries (and has nothing to do with e-commerce). In March this year, JAFCO invested in BizReach, too (namely a total of US$2.6 million).
Luxa will use the service to broaden its market (it’s currently active in Tokyo only) and offer a wider range of services.
Serkan Toto