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"Daily deal site Plum District has raised $8.5 million in order to expand beyond the 20 districts where it currently offers deals. The Series A funding is led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield &amp; Byers.\nPlum District attempts to differentiate itself from the increasingly crowded daily deal space by targeting mothers and their families. The site's deals, which range from products like children's clothing to services like portrait photography, are \"sourced\" by mothers who earn commissions for bringing in deals from local businesses. These women also help promote the deals using their own blogs, social networks, and discussion boards.\nEven with this tweak to the daily deal business model, Plum District faces stiff competition from some of the biggest online companies. Last year, Yelp and AOL both announced their own daily deal features. And last week, Mashable learned that Google also plans to join the game.\nOn the other hand, none of these giants have attempted to target a specific demographic. And as far as niches go, Plum District has probably picked the most promising one. According to estimates by eMarketer, the demographic controls about 80% of household spending. While other sites like Daily Deals for Moms have their sights set on the same space, dominating it is still up for grabs.\nImage courtesy of iStockphoto, zorani"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2011/01/26/plum-district-raises-8-5-million/>