Medora, a locally based internet start-up, plans to raise US$230,000 ($19.6 million) in 2011 via private placement in order to offer discount travel and leisure packages, according to filings to the US Government.

It represents the latest local online venture in a market dominated by US websites.

“We are still in the process of setting-up and I will be going to the US before year end in order to speak to the lawyers who will make the final decision when to open the placement,” Medora president Craig McKenzie told the Business Observer in a telephone interview on Monday about the company incorporated in May this year.

The company raised an initial US$40,600 via private placement in the US and currently has some US$23,000 in working capital. It now is in the process of offering a second offer with its 60 page prospectus already posted to the Securities and Exchange Commission in the US.

The placement will allow the company to operate for the ensuing year — covering US beta site testing, marketing and advertising, management, legal and consulting fees. The websites beta testing was estimated to be completed this week but up to press time it was not yet online.

The website aims to rival Groupon and eBay by allowing companies to offer deals to Medora members.

“Our target focus is to provide significant discounts to our registered members by allowing them to buy group coupons for local restaurants, hotels, spas, tourist attractions and bars in Jamaica,” stated the company’s prospectus.

Medora says it can offer discounts to members because it pools members into groups, thereby allowing bulk buying at lower costs.

“The product or service up for sale will probably have a significant discount from its original price, usually in the range of 50 per cent off,” the company stated about its yet to be completed website.

McKenzie expressed confidence that his company will fill a niche in the market dominated by US based websites.

“Ebay and Amazon are successful, so why not try to (build a rival) and to branch out and offer new products and services, things that they do not offer in order to encourage members to come to my site,” stated McKenzie, who currently works at the Ministry of Health.

The top-10 most visited websites by Jamaicans are all US based, led by Facebook and Google, according to independent website data tracker Alexa. The Jamaica Observer’s website — www.jamaicaobserver.com — is ranked 11th followed by the Jamaica Gleaner’s at 14th as the most popular local sites.

“We can do a lot more to build local content. What I see is mostly music websites from Jamaica and not products and services,” noted McKenzie, adding that “there is a market for a lot of small business to get involved online. There is a lot more that can be done.”

The company anticipates that social networking, word-of-mouth marketing, loyalty marketing and team buying marketing will facilitate its marketing strategy by generating traffic and sales to its website. It also aims to grow its registered members and promote its businesses through advertisements that will link to Facebook, Twitter and other media sites.

Stated the prospectus: “We anticipate that we will begin to make profits by attracting repeat customers and offering businesses a new way of tapping into a new demographic of customers being introduced to a particular business by a group of buyers”.