Local Offer Network Inc., which sells advertising and technology services to group-buying sites and also aggregates online daily deals for consumers, says it has raised $1.5 million in an initial funding round. The company will use the funding to enhance its product offerings, hire employees and otherwise expand.

Illinois Ventures and Matthew Pritzker Co. led the funding round. Local Offer Network launched in the first quarter of 2010 and says it brings together about 2,000 offers each day from nearly 100 markets in the United States, via the Dealradar.com e-commerce site. The company also enables deal sites to syndicate their offers, and sells software and related services that enable other companies to create daily deals.

“We remain relentlessly focused on helping offer providers, publishers, merchants and consumers reap the benefits of this growing market,” says Dan Hess, CEO and co-founder of Local Offer Network. “We’re thrilled that this mission has earned such a strong vote of confidence from investors with deep experience in both online and traditional businesses.”

Earlier this month, Local Offer Network released a report predicting that revenue from online daily deal and discount sites including Groupon and LivingSocial will top $2.67 billion in 2011, up 138% from $1.12 billion in 2010.