Largest Brazilian Daily Deal Site Peixe Urbano Announces Significant Growth Capital Investment by General Atlantic

RIO DE JANEIRO, May 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- PeixeUrbano (www.peixeurbano.com), the first and leading collective buying website in Brazil, today announced a partnership with the leading global growth equity investment firm General Atlantic (GA) in an investment round that also included participation from Tiger Global Management. The investment aims to further accelerate PeixeUrbano's growth by providing financial and strategic resources for recruiting, new marketing campaigns and geographical expansion.  

"The new capital together with GA's active approach, experience in our segment, and expertise in working with growth companies will allow us to strengthen our company's infrastructure and fuel our expansion not just in Brazil and Argentina, but also to other Latin American countries," said Julio Vasconcellos, founding partner and CEO of PeixeUrbano.

A pioneer in the region, PeixeUrbano was launched in March of 2010 in Brazil and in just one year, the company's registered user base grew from 6 thousand to 9 million, to whom more than 5 million coupons were sold. PeixeUrbano already has nearly 600 employees in more than 60 locations in Brazil and Argentina.

"We have closely followed PeixeUrbano since its early days and believe the company has outstanding potential for long-term growth," says Fernando Marques Oliveira, managing director of General Atlantic. "PeixeUrbano has a strong and knowledgeable management team, an attractive business model leveraging important consumer and internet trends, and a proven track record, having rapidly established itself as the leading company in an extremely promising segment and emerging market. We are excited to support and help accelerate its global growth."

GA has invested nearly US$750 million in Latin America with current investments in online consumer marketplace MercadoLibre and BM&F Bovespa. The firm's recent investments in its Internet sector include Privalia in Europe; Alibaba, RenRen and SouFun in China; and Dice, AKQA, Network Solutions and Gilt Groupe in the US. GA invests annually in the US$2 billion range across six sectors globally, with an average investment size of just over US$200 million in 2010.

During the fourth quarter of 2010, PeixeUrbano received investment capital from two other companies: Monashees Capital, one of the main venture capital firms in Brazil, and Benchmark Capital, a leading Silicon Valley venture capital firm that invests in companies such as eBay and Twitter and made its first investment in Latin America through PeixeUrbano.

These investments by Benchmark, GA and Tiger Global demonstrate the growing interest of well-recognized international firms in companies that have a high-growth potential in the Latin American region.

About PeixeUrbano

PeixeUrbano is the first Latin American collective buying website. It was founded in Brazil, in the beginning of 2010, by three young entrepreneurs who met at Stanford University: Julio Vasconcellos, Emerson Andrade and Alex Tabor. It is currently present in more than 60 cities in Brazil and Argentina, and continues to expand to other cities in the region. The website brings daily deals with steep discounts that create an incentive for consumers to try the best products, services and activities in their cities. For local businesses, it is a powerful marketing tool that helps to increase brand awareness as well as attract a large number of new customers in very little time and without the need for any upfront investment.

About General Atlantic

General Atlantic is a leading global growth equity firm providing capital and strategic support for growth companies. GA combines a collaborative global approach, sector specific expertise, long-term investment horizon and a deep understanding of growth drivers to partner with great management and build exceptional businesses worldwide. Established in 1980, GA manages approximately $17 billion in capital and has more than 75 investment professionals based in Greenwich, New York, Palo Alto, London, Düsseldorf, Hong Kong, Beijing, Mumbai and Sao Paulo. For further information and a listing of GA's public and private portfolio companies see www.generalatlantic.com.  

About Tiger Global Management

Tiger Global Management, LLC, is a privately owned investment manager. The firm manages a group of hedge funds and growth capital funds. Tiger Global Management was founded in 2001 and is based in New York, with an additional office in Beijing, China.

PRESS CONTACT:

For Peixe Urbano
Leticia Leite
[email protected]
+1 786-282-9482

For General Atlantic
Pat Hedley
[email protected]
+1 203-629-8658

Gaspar & Associados Comunicacao Empresarial (on behalf of GA)
Heloisa Picos
[email protected]
+ 55 (11) 3037-3226

SOURCE General Atlantic; Peixe Urbano