First, Living Social, then Google Offers, and now moms are going after Groupon's business.
The San Francisco-based Plum District, an 8-month old daily offers website focused on moms intends to grow its 100-person sales force by at least 100 this year. "We'll be in multiples of where we are right now by the end of the year," said Megan Gardner, CEO of the company.
The startup, which announced Wednesday that it has raised $8.5 million in funding, focuses its deals on mothers -- an "ignored" segment of the market, according to Gardner -- offering babysitting deals, camp for the kids, discounts at kid-friendly restaurants and other mom-centric offers.
The company tends to hire mothers. Currently, most of the sales force, which is spread out across 20 metro areas nationwide, is comprised of mothers.
"We want the maven moms, the ones who are on Facebook, those with leadership experience and marketing experience," said Gardner. She finds most of her hires through referrals, from current employees or vendor partners.
The work is flexible -- Gardner said many of her salespeople work part-time or from home -- and pays based on commission.
Write to Shareen Pathak
