Rajen Ruparell (born June 6, 1983) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

entrepreneur, investor, board director and philanthropist. He is best known as the Founder and Chairman of Endy and as Co-Founder of

Groupon Groupon, Inc. is an American global e-commerce marketplace connecting subscribers with local merchants by offering activities, travel, goods and services in 13 countries. Based in Chicago, Groupon was launched there in November 2008, launching ...

International via acquisition of his company Citydeal.

Personal life

Ruparell was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He pursued his undergraduate at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

and holds an MSc in Management from the

Imperial College Business School Imperial Business School is the business school of Imperial College London, based in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, United Kingdom. Established in 2003, the business school was opened by Elizabeth II, Queen Elizabeth II. ...

in London. Prior to founding Citydeal, Ruparell worked in his family business of auto dealerships and real estate, and had a brief career in

venture capital Venture capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing provided by firms or funds to start-up company, startup, early-stage, and emerging companies, that have been deemed to have high growth potential or that have demonstrated high growth in ...

at Oxford Capital Partners, before leaving to pursue his own Internet ventures. Ruparell serves as Executive Director of the Rajen Ruparell Foundation, focusing on major donations in education, basic child needs, the arts, and women empowerment. In 2017, he was reported to have paid $100,000 at a fundraiser charity auction for a private magic session with

David Blaine David Blaine (born David Blaine White; April 4, 1973) is an American magician, mentalist, and Endurance art, endurance performer. Born in New York City, Blaine became interested in magic at a very young age. He gained prominence in 1997, when h ...

, in support of children’s education in

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

Career

Ruparell is the Founder of Endy, which was sold to Sleep Country in November 2018 as one of Canada’s largest-ever e-commerce acquisitions, and a Co-Founder of

International via the acquisition of his company Citydeal which was acquired in 2010 in Groupon’s largest acquisition to date. Ruparell was called one of the “Best Young Entrepreneurs in the World” in an interview with

Larry King Larry King (born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger; November 19, 1933 – January 23, 2021) was an American TV and radio host presenter, author, and former spokesman. He was a WMBM radio interviewer in the Miami area in the 1950s and 1960s and beginning in ...

in 2017, the same year he was named EY Entrepreneur of the Year finalist. He has been featured in various publications including the ''Financial Times'', ''Bloomberg'', ''Reader’s Digest'', ''CBC'', ''The Globe & Mail'' and ''Fortune''. Ruparell serves on the board of Clearbanc and was a pre-IPO investor in

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

and

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

Endy

In 2015, Ruparell co-founded and financed Canadian mattress brand Endy, where he served as Chairman, Founder, and Majority Shareholder. In under four years, Endy became Canada’s leading online mattress retailer and was sold in 2018 for $89 Million to Sleep Country Canada. Ruparell serves as the Executive Chairman of the newly formed joint entity created through the acquisition. The company has generated over $500m in sales and has won numerous awards including being named Fastest Growing Retailer in Canada by ''Maclean’s'' and ''Canadian Business''.

Groupon

Citydeal, also referred to as Groupon International, was a European-based deal company co-founded by Ruparell in the United Kingdom and Groupon’s entry into Europe. It was a startup funded by the Samwer brothers, Rocket Internet, and Holtzbrinck Ventures which Ruparell joined early in its development. The company was acquired by Groupon in 2010, just five months after its launch. Although no confirmed figures were released of the deal, it was reported that the sale of Citydeal was between $100M USD and $300M USD. At the time of acquisition, Citydeal employed 600 people and had a presence in 80 cities in 16 countries. In 2011, ahead of Groupon’s IPO, Ruparell and his co-founders moved to the Chicago headquarters to spearhead growth in Groupon’s North American business. He was charged by the board with founding Groupon Goods, which diversifies from their core local business Groupon. At the time of Ruparell’s announced departure, Groupon Goods generated billings of nearly $1.5 Billion USD.Lardinois, Frederic (November 8, 2012)
"Groupon Reports Q3 2012 Earnings"
''Tech Crunch''. Retrieved 9 November 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruparell, Rajen 1983 births Living people Businesspeople from Calgary