Seattle-based group buying site Tippr.com announced today it has acquired Chitown Deals, based in Chicago, for an undisclosed amount. Tippr, which focuses on consumers’ collective buying (and discount vouchers) from small businesses, is currently operating in 10 U.S. cities and looking to expand. The site is led by entrepreneur and investor Martin Tobias. Its parent company, Kashless, is backed by RRE Ventures and Paul Allen’s Vulcan Capital. In February, Tobias rolled out Tippr, based on acquiring the patent portfolio of Mercata, the former Bellevue, WA-based dot-com backed by Vulcan.
Author: Gregory T. Huang
Greg is a veteran journalist who has covered a wide range of science, technology, and business. As former editor in chief, he overaw daily news, features, and events across Xconomy's national network. Before joining Xconomy, he was a features editor at New Scientist magazine, where he edited and wrote articles on physics, technology, and neuroscience. Previously he was senior writer at Technology Review, where he reported on emerging technologies, R&D, and advances in computing, robotics, and applied physics. His writing has also appeared in Wired, Nature, and The Atlantic Monthly’s website. He was named a New York Times professional fellow in 2003.
Greg is the co-author of Guanxi (Simon & Schuster, 2006), about Microsoft in China and the global competition for talent and technology. Before becoming a journalist, he did research at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Lab. He has published 20 papers in scientific journals and conferences and spoken on innovation at Adobe, Amazon, eBay, Google, HP, Microsoft, Yahoo, and other organizations. He has a Master’s and Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT, and a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
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