Amazon injects $175m into LivingSocial, boosting arsenal to compete with Google-Groupon

LivingSocial, a deals web site that lives in the same space as Groupon, has been injected with a $175 million investment from Amazon, the company confirmed today. Living Social also said that it secured an additional $8 million investment from Lightspeed Venture Partners.

The news comes amid reports that Google is reportedly set to buy Groupon, the largest player in the new group deals space and a clear market leader, according to Hitwise. (See chart below)

LivingSocial said it is currently booking revenues of $1 million per day on average and is projected to book more than $500 million in 2011. The investments, the company said, will be used to continue the pace of worldwide launches around the globe and, largely, to compete. In a statement, LivingSocial CEO Tim O'Shaughnessy said:

To be the biggest player in the local commerce space there is no one better to work with than Amazon. As the social shopping space continues to heat up, LivingSocial is committed to staying focused on providing the high level of quality that consumers and merchants have come to expect when working with us.