It looks like Coupons.com just became the Airbnb of mega-million dollar raises at billion dollar valuations. Today, Coupons.com , the largest provider of digital coupons, announced that it has received a $200 million investment from a group of institutional investors, including several mutual funds. The company has thus far declined to disclose the names of the investors. The sizable investment comes at a supposed $1 billion valuation, and sources close to Coupons.com (who declined to be named) said that the valuation is based on $100 million in expected revenues for 2011, roughly double those of the prior year. This is likely all a part of gearing up for a potential IPO sometime in 2012. The hefty infusion of institutional capital is aimed at furthering the company’s goal of bringing coupons online, as digital coupons currently represent the fastest growing segment of the coupon industry. According to the company, more than 332 billion coupons were distributed in 2010. As the print publishing industry continues to fall on hard times, the company is aiming at an industry wide transformation as shoppers look for digital ways to save. To meet the growing demand in the coupon industry, and to presumably give Groupon a potential reason to look over its shoulder, Coupons.com plans to hire 100 employees in 2011, enabling the company to grow its staff by over 30 percent in just six months. Those new hires will primarily be focused in engineering, sales and client-marketing, the company said. The company also plans to use its new capital to make strategic acquisitions, building on its prior acquisitions of Free State Labs, the developers of Grocery IQ, an shopping list app for mobile. As of right now, Coupons.com claims to be the largest provider of digital coupons (and the 43rd largest website in the U.S.), its network spanning thousands of sites, including retailers, publishers, consumer electronics, shopping cards, and apps. Founded in 1998, Coupons.com, which counts companies like A&P, Clorox, General Mills, Kelloggs, Walgreens, and Safeway as its clients, has become a resource for manufacturers looking to add coupons to digital media strategies, like Facebook fan pages, corporate websites, email campaigns, and more. CrunchBase Information Coupons.com Information provided by CrunchBase
