Groupon Acquires Breadcrumb to Make Redeeming Deals on the iPad Easier

Groupon has acquired Breadcrumb, a small company that was building a point-of-sale solution for the iPad.

Groupon said that Breadcrumb’s team, including founder and CEO Seth Harris, will be joining the company and that Breadcrumb will soon be offering its product to Groupon’s existing merchant partners.

In a blog post, Mihir Shah, Groupon’s VP of mobile, said that Harris’s experience includes 12 years in hospitality management, making him “uniquely empathetic to the tight budgets and unique needs of business owners in the food and beverage industry who often struggle to find technology products that will work perfectly for them.”

This is more than an “acqhire” because Breadcrumb will continue to serve new and existing clients. Also, Groupon said merchants using Breadcrumb will be able to significantly improve the process of redeeming a Groupon.

UPDATE: According to sources, Groupon paid between $10 and $15 million for the company, not including retention bonuses. A Groupon spokeswoman did not reply immediately to an email seeking confirmation.

According to LinkedIn, Breadcrumb was founded in 2011 and had fewer than 10 employees.

Groupon has been on a technology acquisition rampage recently, adding to its portfolio of services that can help local merchants compete more effectively online. Many iPad point-of-sale solutions already exist so, in a way, Groupon is playing a little catch-up with this one.