Group buying and social commerce platform Group Commerce Inc., officially launched Thursday, announcing that its solution is being used by customers including The New York Times, Meredith Corporation, DailyCandy, and Thrillist. Group Commerce also announced Series A funding of $8 million from Spark Capital, Carmel Ventures, Lerer Media Ventures, and Bob Pittman.

Founded by former Google and DoubleClick executives David Rosenblatt, Jonty Kelt, and Andrew Glenn in 2010, Group Commerce has assembled a team from companies such as Gilt Groupe and 1-800-Flowers.com.

“The recent surge of interest in group buying deals and social commerce is an exciting development, but it’s just the beginning of the story,” said Jonty Kelt, CEO of Group Commerce and former executive at DoubleClick. “To take group buying and social commerce to the next level, we help publishers curate products and services that truly appeal to their audiences.”

“The group buying and social commerce market today is reminiscent of web publishing over a decade ago, led by a couple of large players, but with new markets and new models poised to dramatically expand the opportunity,” said David Rosenblatt, Chairman of Group Commerce and former CEO of DoubleClick. “As with every other form of marketing, contextualizing offers improves relevance for the user, creates high-quality customer acquisition opportunities for marketers, and deepens engagement for the publisher.”

“It’s no secret that publishers are seeking expanded and innovative revenue channels for their brands,” according to Todd Dagres, General Partner of Spark Capital, who has invested in companies including Twitter, Tumblr, and Akamai. “What’s been exciting is helping them realize how to unlock the potential of eCommerce, and that’s precisely what attracted us and other investors to the solution developed by the outstanding team at Group Commerce.”