Starbucks Chairman, President and CEO Howard Schultz is joining Groupon‘s board of directors Thursday.
This news is predicated on Schultz’ venture capital firm’s investment in Groupon. Maveron LLC, a firm with offices in Seattle and San Francisco, has given Groupon an undisclosed amount of funding.
Groupon recently closed a colossal $950 million Series D from Andreessen Horowitz, Battery Ventures, DST, Greylock Partners, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Maverick Capital, Silver Lake and Technology Crossover Ventures.
Considering Starbucks’s focus on social media marketing and Groupon’s focus on large, national brands, the relationship makes sense.
In fact, we recently named Starbucks one of the top five brands that use social media particularly well. The company’s Foursquare experiments in consumer rewards have yielded interesting case studies in a still-young space, and the brand’s participation in social media has shown unquestionable return on investment.
Groupon founder and CEO Andrew Mason said in a release, “As CEO of one of the world’s most iconic brands, Howard is an invaluable addition to the Groupon board. His experience in building the culture and business of Starbucks and his relentless focus on innovation to improve customer experiences brings a unique combination of skills to our Board of Directors.”
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