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Startups Get Your Seed Hatchery Application In Before Christmas (Dec 23 Early Application Deadline)

While Santa is making his list and checking it twice, early stage startup founders across the country and around the world are checking off startup accelerators on their list. Seed Hatchery, the startup accelerator in Memphis Tennessee should be one of those accelerators. They’re looking for the type of entrepreneurs that are committed to growing their startup long term and aren’t afraid of hard work.

Seed Hatchery is now taking applications for their third class. The cohort based accelerator will begin in February and run for three consecutive months. At the end of the session you and your company will be ready to pitch real investors for opportunities to invest in your business. In the meantime you’ll be backed by the 3M’s Money, Mentors and a marine style bootcamp, in Memphis.

Although sometimes overlooked, Memphis is one of the most entrepreneurial minded cities in the world. Going back nearly 100 years, Memphis Tennessee was the epicenter for this little thing called “cotton” you may have heard of it. It was cotton and the cotton exchange that spurred one of the largest investment banks in history, Lehman Brothers.

Beyond that, other globally known phenomena like rock music (the blues), Elvis Presley, and R&B radio have their roots firmly planted in the Bluff City.

Is that not enough? Perhaps you’ve heard of this company that delivers packages via planes and trucks, overnight, yes FedEx was born and based in Memphis. Holiday Inn was born in Memphis as was Serv Pro, and Autozone. Even Debbi Fields, Yes Mrs. Fields as in cookies, calls Memphis Tennessee home.

With an entrepreneurial pedigree like that you can be assured that the mentor pool for the 2013 Seed Hatchery CoHort will be stronger than most regional accelerators Seed Hatchery’s size.

Seed Hatchery was the partner for the recent Zeroto510 medical device accelerator in Memphis where 5 of the 6 teams received follow on funding of over $100,000. One of the teams went on to immediately raise over 2 million dollars. While some startup communities are still just getting started, Seed Hatchery is backed by Launch Your City which has been working on strengthening entrepreneurs and their startups for the last six years.

If you’re a Memphis area entrepreneur or in any area and ready to relocate to Memphis it’s a great place to work and a great place to build a business. Not only that, but even though the accelerator is in the thick of the winter, it’s never ver cold in Memphis.

If you’re startup is chosen to participate you’ll receive a seed investment of $15,000, access to a very strong mentor network and a strong investment community. Seed Hatchery is looking for startups that are in the area or willing to relocate for the entire 90 day cohort and stick around Memphis to tap into the investor, entrepreneurial and startup community in the region after that. To kick off your stay in Memphis TN every team and their members selected for Seed Hatchery will receive a free ticket to the three day startup extravaganza known as “everywhereelse.co The Startup Conference” where you’ll get to see the great speakers already announced and have a small group session with recent graduates from TechStars, 500Startups, The Brandery and previous graduates of Seed Hatchery.

Applying is free and the application is open now. It’s not for the faint at heart but if you’re passionate about your idea and hard working, if you’re not afraid of rolling up your sleeves this is for you.

Hit the links below.

Linkage:

Here’s the application for the 2013 Seed Hatchery cohort

Seedhatchery.com

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YCombinator Shrinks Class Size Too, Smaller Is Better

Late last week we reported that Paul Graham’s YCombinator was changing it’s seed investment structure going into the “Winter 2013” class of startups. What began as power angels Ron Conway and Yuri Milner investing $150,000 into each of the YCombinator startups has been reduced to a seed investment of $80,000 with four stake holders, further diluting the risk.

When Graham started YCombinator it was (and still is) one of the best startup accelerators in the country. Graham and the YC team made it big, big, big. Big money, big names, big startups. After two years though, it seems that Graham and his cohorts are honing in on the things that really matter. While their first class was 66 startups and their next class was 84 startups, you still needed to be the “best of the best”, for your team to get in.

Of course with 84 teams, there were even some bad apples in the “best of the best”. Graham reports in this blog post that:

“The reason we accepted fewer applications was that in summer 2012 we grew too fast. We had 66 companies in winter 2012, and that was fine, but for some reason more things than usual broke when we jumped from 66 to 84.”

While some may suggest the reduction in class size this time around is about stacking the deck, what YCombinator is really trying to do is weed out as much possible failure as they can. This way they can focus on growing the best of the best, to be, well, the best. Graham says to do that they needed to start looking at the predictors of failure rather than the predictors of success.

They’ve finished the interviews for the Winter class and right now have less than 50 startups signed up. That doesn’t mean that number will stay the same. As Graham explains there are startups that get in after the interview process and others that drop out or fall apart before they can be funded. He’s also quick to point out that this number may not stay the same. As odd it it may be to hear, YCombinator, is itself still a startup and they’re still iterating themselvers.

Linkage:

YCombinator original blog post

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Kauffman Foundation Takes 1 Million Cups Startup Pitch Event Global

A startup pitch event that the Kauffman Foundation created this spring, is going global. The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation has been driving startups through global events by participating heavily with Startup Weekend, Startup America and sponsoring many startup and entrepreneurial events across the globe.

1 Million Cups is an informal weekly meetup, that until now, only occurred at Kauffman’s Kansas City headquarters. Each Wednesday morning two startups get to pitch a group of their peers over coffee. The Kauffman Foundation has already seen 64 pitches during the first 35 meetings.

Last month, during Global Entrepreneurship Week, Des Moines Iowa became the second city to host 1 Million Cups events. Nate Olson, a Kauffman Foundation analyst, and the 1 Million Cups coordinator hopes to add 20 more cities by the end of 2013. In Q1 2013 the foundation plans to bring Cedar Rapids IA, Omaha Neb, Lincoln Neb, and possibly Columbia MO online as well.

“We are expanding from the interior of the country outward, so don’t look for us on the coast just yet” Kauffman Foundation Vice President Thom Ruhe said in an email to the Kansas City Business Journal. Rhue hinted that bigger startup hubs, like Silicon Valley, are more “entrepreneurially aware”.

The Kansas City meetups host 120 people each week, from the tech sector. They’re attracting entrepreneurs, wantrerpreneurs, outside advisers and others.

To continue their expansion the Kauffman Foundation is seeking out entrepreneurs in other cities that can host the weekly pitch events and of course provide free coffee.

Linkage:

Check out 1 Million Cups Here

Source: KC Business Journal

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Accelerate Baltimore Extends Application Deadline To December 21st

The holidays are upon us but for entrepreneurs and startup founders across the state of Maryland, across the country and around the globe who want to build their startup in Charm City, they’ll probably be on pins and needles, waiting. AccelerateBaltimore, the startup accelerator program put on by The Emerging Technology Center has extended their program application deadline to December 21st, 2012.

Baltimore is a great city to build a startup in, just ask McKeever Conwell who decided to keep his startup “Given.to” (formerly No Bad Gift), in Maryland’s tech city. Conwell, a Morgan State graduate, has been through the AccelerateBaltimore program and he’s been out west. He decided Baltimore’s best for his company.

Baltimore has a thriving tech scene (I may be biased being born and raised there). Video game studios, mobile app companies, mobile ad companies and many more call Baltimore home. In fact, mobile ad company Millennial Media, is a Baltimore startup that recently went public to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. The company has over 38,000 mobile apps on it’s network.

If you want a taste of that pie and you want to learn from some of the greatest mentors around, you still have a couple of weeks to apply. You don’t have to be based in Baltimore, but you do have to be willing to move to Baltimore to participate in the program. It’s worth it.

And speaking of Mentors, the ETC just announced 14 mentors for the next AccelerateBaltimore session including: Chris Brandenburg, Co-founder and CTO of Millennial Media, Greg Cangialosi, CEO of Nucleus Ventures, Ron Schmelzer, CEO of Bizelo and Co-founder of Baltimore Tech Breakfast and Andrew Coy, Co-Executive Director of Digital Harbor Foundation, Ann Quinn of Quinn Strategy Group, Victoria McAndrews of CMD, and Russell Clark Co-Founder of Illuminis.

“AccelerateBaltimore™ is one of the recognized programs that has proven to assist in nurturing startups from idea-stage to viable business,” stated Michael Binko, co-chair of Startup Maryland. “Formal programs like AccelerateBaltimore™, MindShare, Distilled Intelligence and others in the broader region are a great extension to high-touch entrepreneur events like our own Pitch Across Maryland. The mentorship, working capital and creative office-space provided by ETC form a great foundation for entrepreneurs who are eager to accept guidance from peer-mentors as well as program facilitators.”

The next AccelerateBaltimore session will begin in February. Six startups will be part of this next cohort and will receive $25,000 in seed funding. They’ll also participate in an intense development program, have free office space, a high level advisory team and more.

Linkage:

Apply to AccelerateBaltimore here

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New Orleans Food Ordering Startup: Couchster, Set To Debut Dec 17th

After a long day at work, school or even at the gym, a lot of people just want to chill on the couch and order in. That’s the idea that’s driving New Orleans entrepreneur Sean O’Neill and his food ordering startup Couchster.

The New Orleans startup is an online food ordering site, optimized for mobile, but O’Neill is hoping to add native mobile apps in the not so distant future. While mobile food ordering isn’t necessarily new, it is new to New Orleans. According to our friends at Silicon Bayou News, O’Neill is aiming to make ordering food easy and more accessible.

Couchster serves up online menu’s so that ordering from your computer, mobile device or tablet can be a cinch. In a city known for it’s delicious food and variety at that, Couchster is a welcomed addition. O’Neill already has over 125 restaurant locations on board. While he’s not officially launching until December 17th, the menus for all of Couchster’s restaurant partners are already posted for users to view.

Couchster is bootstrapped to the hilt. O’Neill believes he shouldn’t try and raise money until he has proven his concept. So after having this idea for over a year, he went out and worked 8-5 everyday and saved every dime he could so that this past June he could quit his day job and work on Couchster full time.

As long as the rollout in New Orleans goes well O’Neill plans to expand to other cities in Louisiana like Shreveport and Baton Rouge, and then after that he wants to take Couchster outside of the state.

Linkage:

Couchster can be found here

Source: Silicon Bayou News

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Burlington MA Startup: Acquia Raises $30 Million

Burlington startup, Acquia, provides enterprise tools based on the open source Drupal web platform. If you’re not familiar with Drupal, it’s the backbone architecture for such popular websites as The White House and the Economist. The platform was created by Dries Buytaert, who also serves as CTO for Acquia.

The startup has now picked up a cool $30 million dollar round led by Growth Capital and Goldman Sachs. Accolade Partners, North Bridge Venture Partners, Sigma Partners and Tenaya Capital also participated in the round. They are looking to add between 120 and 140 new jobs within the next 12 months. They are also planning on using the money for more international expansion.

Acquia generated $21.8 million in revenue in 2011 according to the Boston Business Journal. CEO Tom Erickson plans to double that this year. They are also looking at a possible IPO within the next two years.

This latest round brings their total venture funding to $68.5 million since 2007. The company was founded by Buytaert and Vice President Jay Batson.

They currently employ 260 people. 140 of those work at the corporate office in Massachusetts. They also have offices in Washington DC, California, Amsterdam,Paris and Oxford England.

Linkage:

Check out Acquia here

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Memphis Social Entrepreneur Sarah Petschonek Takes Volunteer Experience Nationwide

30 Year old Memphian, Sarah Petschonek left her Nashville job in September of this year to return home to Memphis, Tennessee. Petschonek who has a socially motivated work background and a PhD, wanted to find a more impactful and meaningful path for her life.

Being a lifelong volunteer since childhood, and with the support of her family and closest friends, she did the most logical thing and went back to volunteering. This time around it would be different though — a mission.

For the entire month of November, including today, Petschonek worked each day, every day at a different volunteer organization. She blogged about each day of her journey on her website at confessionsofavolunteer.com.

Along the way she volunteered helping children, senior citizens, homeless people, urban farmers, students and more. When local CBS affiliate, News Channel 3 caught up with Petschonek she was volunteering for SAVE an organization that provides vision services for students.

“Each time you volunteer you generate a ripple effect across the community and you create positive change in the world. You don’t have to be perfect in order to be the perfect volunteer. Whatever your talents and interests, you have the potential to inspire yourself and everyone around you!” Petschonek said.

Her volunteer days go back 22 years to when she was 8 years old. Her and her two siblings would pull a wagon around Jacksonville Florida, passing out fliers and collecting food for the needy.

With this 30 day stint coming to an end, Petschonek has decided to do the next logical thing and take her volunteer experience across the country. She will begin the next leg of her journey in Portland, Oregon and travel to Boise, Salt Lake City, Kansas City, St. Louis, Nashville, Atlanta and back to Jacksonville to rekindle the youthful social entrepreneur that started this all.

Petschonek’s Memphis journey yielded media coverage from the prominent local media outlets. Her blog is already averaging 30,000muv. All Petschonek hopes to do is inspire people to donate just one hour of their time, whether it be once a week, or once a month to whatever cause they can relate to. The results are already amazing including a local law firm giving 10% of their revenues to the local food bank and many others giving personally with time, money, and resources.

Petschonek has launched an indiegogo campaign at indiegogo.com/volunteerbound to help fund the nationwide expedition. While she realizes that a journey like this may be more comfortable in the summer months, winter time is when people, and volunteer organizations need the most help.

People can stay up to date with Petschonek’s nationwide adventure at her blog site confessionsofavolunteer.com and contribute to her journey through links on that page or directly at indiegogo.com/volunteerbound.

Linkage:

Check out Sarah’s blog here

Support her on indiegogo here

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St.Louis Startup LockerDome Adds 19 Year VC Veteran Mark Lewis As CFO

News keeps pouring out from our friends at St. Louis startup LockerDome. Earlier this week the largest sports social network startup in the world announced that they had just partnered for the release of the first app/game built on the LockerDome platform. Thursday the team at LockerDome announced a new addition in 19 year venture capital veteran Mark Lewis, joining the team as CFO.

Lewis’ venture capital experience includes working with Gateway Associates and Two River Associates from 1998 to 2006. Most recently Lewis spent the last six years as a principal at Advantage Capital Partners, one of the nations leading venture capital firms with over $1.3 billion in invested capital.

While LockerDome founder and CEO Gabe Lozano is no beginner when it comes to startup and entrepreneurism, adding Lewis to the team brings a plethora of welcomed experience.

“As we continue to invest in the team’s growth, we are thrilled that someone of Mark’s stature, energy and talent will lead LockerDome’s efforts toward securing an even brighter financial future for the company,” Lozano said in a statement. “Under Mark’s financial leadership we will continue to build on the momentum the company has had this year in amassing over 1,300 properties and 2.5 million monthly unique visitors since January.”

“Joining a visionary leader such as Gabe Lozano to help build LockerDome into the premier interest-specific social media platform is an incredible opportunity. I am quite excited by the prospect of sustaining and managing LockerDome’s explosive growth,” said Mark Lewis, LockerDome’s new CFO “I look forward to securing a strong financial future to execute Gabe’s vision and LockerDome’s brand.”

LockerDome is a sports social network that allows anyone at any level in sports to join, create a profile and interact with others. From school age leagues to the pro’s, a wide variety of athletes make up the LockerDome social network. Hundreds of thousands of sports fans have also joined the network to keep up with their favorite sports stars, teams and even media sites.

Linkage:

LockerDome is here

More St. Louis startup coverage is here at nibletz.

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Richmond Startup: Lending Clouds, Legally Crowdfunding Startups NOW!

One of the biggest steps in supporting startups in 2012 was the passing of the JOBS Act. The act itself was passed earlier this year and then turned over to the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), to develop regulations. The JOBS Act is the legislation that will eventually make it possible to use crowdfunding sites, similar to how Kickstarter functions, to sell off micr0-equity stakes in companies up to $1 million dollars.

The SEC had originally announced that they would be done setting up the regulations back in July, however that was quickly moved to January of 2013. At this time it’s unclear as to when crowdfunding for equity in startups will officially start.

Several “crowdfunding” startups have launched. Others have launched websites with beta invites and LaunchRock’s in preparation for when they’ll truly be able to crowdfund for equity. Other sites have set up the ability to support startup companies with mico investments in exchange for “perks” like t-shirts, swags and hardware samples.

Barry Rickert, a 40 year veteran in the private equity field, has used his vast knowledge and experience, along with the law, to side step the JOBS Act and create a way to fund startups now.

His Richmond startup, Lendingclouds, is going to give back royalties instead of equity and to get that you need to join the sites “club”.

The combination of royalty based small business financing offers no debt and no personal guarantees to small business that need capital to grow, while at the same time giving investors access to high yield investments that pay immediate income. It’s really quite ingenious. The members only, online Crowdfunding Investment store brings together entrepreneurs and investors in a unique manner designed to benefit both. The funding group provides exclusive investment opportunities to members who bring as little as $100 to the table. Lending Clouds does this by accepting applications from entrepreneurs, which once approved, are offered to investors.

Investor members participate in what is known as crowdfunding. Rickert’s form of crowdfunding is focused on pooling resources to invest funds in new businesses, products and ideas that provide royalty based returns. Members are able to spread their funds amongst many different investments, which lessens their risk. Returns of 25%+ are expected on successful ventures. In 20 years, this can result in a $5,000 investment paying $1 million.

“We’re looking forward to working we people who have never invested before,” says Lending Clouds President, Barry Rickert, “and who may have a few hundred dollars or more to put towards various projects and products. There are a few unique aspects to Lending Clouds and crowdfunding, which makes us especially attractive to investors and entrepreneurs.” Rickert adds, “Unlike the stock market, investors don’t need a lot of money, and they start to see payments come back to them within 60 to 90 days.”

Members have access to exclusive listings posted on the Lending Clouds online store. They may read through the various opportunities and decide to put money in one or more projects. Once all funding is in place, an Investment Club is created as the vehicle for making the group investment. The club money is released to the user/grantee (entrepreneur) in return for a royalty agreement that details the product or service to be sold and the royalty to be paid over the term of the agreement. Investors start to receive payments as per the agreement between the user/grantee and grantor/investor usually within 30-90 days.

Rickert notes, “The opportunities we are providing investors with are easier to understand than stock offerings, with terms explicitly stated. Our investment opportunities are for expansion and growth with entities that are already established and familiar to our investors. This also helps to lessen risk.” He observes, “Grantees are looking for as little as $25,000 and as much as $2 million, with the average fund being capitalized at about $100,000. An investor can put as little as $100 into a fund.”

As part of Rickert’s lean startup strategy, he is giving away a significant number of $100 credits to new members, with no strings attached. About the only catch (if you can call it a catch) is that investors must pick an investment that gets funded. However, if it doesn’t, they’re free to use the funds to pick another investment. Rickert also states that while the offerings are very small today, he has some million dollar deals in the pipeline.

While hundreds of crowdfunding sites popped up the minute the JOBS Act was officially passed, Lending Clouds is not a flash in the pain, or a scam. Rickert has decades of experience in the field and has come up with the quickest, easiest and most legal way to start using crowdfunding mechanics to invest now, not when the SEC is ready.

Linkage:

Go see for yourself at lendingclouds.com

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New Orleans Startups Prepare For Silicon Bayou 100 Event December 12th

New Orleans thriving startup scene is about to celebrate the second annual Silicon Bayou 100 release party. The event, being held December 12th at the Eiffel Society, will highlight a crowdsourced group of 100 top movers and shakers across the region known as the Silicon Bayou.

Registering for the star studded event will get you into see all the action live and if you can’t make it Silicon Bayou News will send you the list of winners so you’ll know who’s who for the next year.

Three of the regional organizations that support high growth startups and entrepreneurism will hold their monthly meeting in conjunction with the gala. Those organizations are NOLA, Net2NO and the Baton Rouge group, SeNSE.

Thanks to LaunchPad, Louisiana Technology Park, New Orleans BioInnovation Center and the Eiffel Society, tickets to the event are free (You just need to register).

Hit the links below:

Check out Silicon Bayou News’ story here

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Official: DC Startup Living Social Lays Off 400

We reported early this morning that Washington DC based daily deals starutp Living Social was planning on laying off 400 people. That came to fruition later this morning and was announced by company spokesperson Andrew Weinstein.

Weinstein confirmed all 400 layoffs and said that they were spread across sales, editorial and customer service. They are also looking to streamline all of their operations and with that they are centralizing customer service to an office in Tuscon Arizona. Customer service jobs that were based at the companies DC offices are either being cut or moved to Tuscon. There may be some job openings at the Tuscon customer service office later on.

This may not bode will for Living Social who just received a major tax break from the DC government. Under the deal for the $32.5 million dollar tax break, LivingSocial is supposed to move to a massive, centralized headquarters and keep 1000 employees in DC.

Living Social is also trying to calm the editorial and social swell from the announcement. Many journalists, bloggers and investors in daily deals, are starting to worry that the once hot space is “over”. Weinstein told CNN “We think this actually puts us on the right path for long-term growth and profitability,”

Groupon, Living Social’s biggest rival and the big winner in the daily deals space, is going through turmoil themselves. It’s been widely rumored that the board of directors at Groupon is looking to replace CEO Andrew Mason. Their stock has performed dismally since going public and there has been a lot of executive turnover at their Chicago headquarters.

To add to LivingSocial’s problems, a month ago Amazon reported a $169 million dollar write down on it’s $175 million dollar investment in LivingSocial.

Linkage:

Livingsocial is here

Earlier story from nibletz is here

Startup News from “everywhere else” is here

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Love The Next Place You Live, Find It With NY Startup YourNeighborhood

Two New York area entrepreneurs, Eric Levy and Andrew Curtis want you to love the next place you live. They are unveiling their New York based real estate startup, YourNeighborhood next week as a beta in New York City.

Sure there are plenty of apartment locator startups out there. There are also startups like BlockAvenue that help you research neighborhoods, their culture and heritage. YourNeighborhood is bringing it all together in a one stop shop platform for those looking for the next place to live.

Apartment finding websites are a dime a dozen. The typical experience includes seeing floor plans, apartment rules, and amenities. You may also learn about the pool, the fitness facility and the community room, but outside the confines of the apartment building or community, you’re on your own.

Are you into coffee shops and co-working? Are you looking for a pick up basketball court, tennis court or some frisbee golf? Do you like to take in local music every night, and play an occasional game of darts?

As many of us know, and many of us have experienced, you can find the golden apartment with stainless steel appliances and a marble kitchen island, and then be stuck for a year or more with nothing else to do. No one wants to come home from work after a long day and then need to take the subway or 8 busses to catch a game with the guys at the local sports bar.

A typical apartment site isn’t going to tell you all of these things, after all they just want you to sign up, lease an apartment and make their commission. Was there a wave of purse snatchings between the apartment building in the subway stop? These are things you need to know, that you can find out now in one location, yourneighborhood.co.

All of this is solved with the YourNeighborhood platform.

In addition to selecting criteria for your next apartment, and neighborhood, Levy and Curtis are adding forums, and bulletin boards so users can interact with other users and folks that have already moved to the neighborhood.

Moving is about much more than your next apartment, it’s about your neighborhood and that’s what Levy and Curtis are bringing users with their new startup.

Linkage:

YourNeighborhood can be found here

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Startup America Stage Headed To International CES

The Startup America partnership has done a phenomenal job of promoting startups across the United States at key events throughout the year. Last year they had an entire area at the Hilton Hotel for startups as part of SXSW. They also partnered with Startup Rockon to bring equally amazing programming to stages at the Republican and Democratic National Conventions.

Continuing with that theme, Startup America has teamed up with the Consumer Electronics Association to bring the Startup America Stage to Eureka Park at the International CES. The International CES is the largest consumer electronics trade show on the western hemisphere and is happening January 8-11th in Las Vegas.

The Startup America stage will be part of CES’ startup pavilion called Eureka Park, which is housed at the Venetian Hotel and easily accessible via a free shuttle from the Las Vegas Convention Center.

“Innovation defines the International CES and we are thrilled to partner with Startup America to bring programming that highlights the young start-ups and entrepreneurs who will shape the future of technology,” said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO, CEA. “We look forward to the exciting sessions on the Startup America Stage at the 2013 CES shining a light on the companies and innovations of tomorrow.”

“Eureka Park will be home to some of the most cutting-edge startups from across the country this year at the 2013 CES,” said Scott Case, CEO of the Startup America Partnership. “We’re incredibly excited to bring together startups, investors, large companies and media to highlight the amazing innovations taking place at this world-class event.”

Innovation is a major theme, this and every year at CES however the past few years they’ve added an exhibit area for startups. Last year Eureka Park was packed. CEA is able to attract startups with lower cost both space, provided they meet the criteria.

CEA has also announced that Eureka Park is 40% bigger this year, adding even more startups and innovation to the mix.

The Startup America stage will feature panels, keynotes, and Q&A’s from top speakers in the entrepreneurial and startup ecosystem across the country.

Linkage:

For more on the International CES visit here

For more on Startup America visit here

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Rumored: DC Startup Living Social To Lay Off 400 Later Today

Several startup and tech sites are reporting that Washington DC daily deals startup, Living Social will lay off as many as 400 people later today (Thursday). The Washington DC Business Journal is credited with starting the rumor based on sources “with knowledge of the daily deal giant’s plans”

The news was escalated Wednesday when Pando Daily founder Sarah Lacy tweeted out a link to a short news brief on her site about the possible layoffs.

As early as two months ago at The Brandery’s demo day, Living Social CEO and Co-Founder Tim O’Shaughnessy led no one to believe that the company was in this much trouble. O’Shaughnessy was the keynote speaker at the branding focused accelerators investor event.

According to The Business Journal, the cuts are supposed to affect several of the company’s nationwide offices, including headquarters in DC which is spread across six offices downtown.

The layoffs may cause even more trouble, as Living Social just won a $32.5 million dollar tax break from the DC government, contingent on opening a 200,000 square foot centralized headquarters and maintaining a headcount of over 1,000. The company last reported 4500 employees globally, and while the 400 layoffs alone wouldn’t seem to affect that tax break, the question lays on what else happens with the company.

Living Social isn’t the only daily deals company that’s having problems. It’s been widely rumored, and some say leaked, that rival Groupon’s CEO Andrew Mason may be ousted by his board of directors. Groupon has struggled since going public, despite the fact that they are still making money.

Living Social suffered a net loss of $566 million in the third quarter. Much of that was in the form of a $496 million dollar write down of some of it’s 2011 acquisitions. Revenue also slipped from $138 million dollars in the second quarter to $124 million in the third.

Linkage:

LivingSocial on the web

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