Middle Eastern group buying site GoNabit was acquired by LivingSocial in June this year, and up until now the website has retained its name and logo, accompanied by LivingSocial’s own logo. As of tomorrow, the site will be switching over entirely to LivingSocial branding.
As Wamda points out, GoNabit is one of the few Middle Eastern startups that has not used an Arabized name, but it did not stop the site from launching successfully in almost 10 cities, many of which were markets it entered before any competitiors.
While the UAE-based startup will continue to operate behind the scenes as is, under the management of co-founders Dan Stuart and Sohrab Johanbani, changes to the front end will have a direct effect on users. Most significantly, users will have to register for a new account, using the same email address, to transfer their details and credit.
DC-based startup LivingSocial has fast been making an international name for itself, spreading into Europe through the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands, ,as well as into Asia, with its purchase of Indonesia-based DealKeren and parent company Ensogo catering to an audience in the Philippines and Thailand, and the most recent acquisition, South Korean startup, Ticket Monster.
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LivingSocial isn’t the only daily deals site trying to break into new markets, with Groupon looking to break into the Thai market. While LivingSocial is rebranding its acquisitions to bear the name of the mother company, Groupon has taken a different approach with its Indian acquisition, Sosata. Rather than rebrand it as Groupon, the company has instead rebranded it as Crazeal instead.
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