Employees at a new Bend company say they’re about to start a website in a category that does not already exist: a group-buying service for outdoor stuff.

In recent years in the United States, the site Groupon has become popular for allowing consumers to buy online coupons for goods and services at approximately half-price, so long as enough people opt into the deal.

Now outdoorsy Silicon Valley veteran Bill Lim has teamed up with Bend husband and wife Gwil and Gale Evans to bring to market his specialized outdoor version, GearTribe, which he said he thought up in 2005 or 2006, before Groupon came into existence in 2008.

“We’re exactly like Groupon, except we’re focusing on the outdoor industry,” said Lim, 45.

That’s not to say GearTribe doesn’t have some traits unique to it. But Lim did adjust his idea as he saw Groupon becoming popular. He saw the concept of a coupon or voucher proving successful, for instance, so he decided to work it in to GearTribe.

With about 10 employees, the company is gearing up for a July 11 launch. The bunch are keen on finding office space to lease in Bend’s NorthWest Crossing development, but as recently as this week the employees in Bend have been working in the basement of the Evanses’ house off Mt. Washington Drive in west Bend. In addition, territory managers in other states are working on securing deals with manufacturers, retailers and service providers. Snowshoes, skis, snowboards, sneakers and Silipint silicone pint glasses are a few of the products customers will be able to try to score at a cut rate. Restaurant and hotel deals will also be available on the site, Geartribe.com, in the post-recreation category.

Several manufacturers and retailers have told Lim they like his idea, and they think it could work for them, without causing problems for their existing distribution channels.

Lim is renting a house in Bend to see through the launch. If GearTribe works out and shows promise for growth — measurements include the number of subscribers, the number of deals that hit their tipping point for validity and, yes, profitability — Lim said he could sell his family’s house in Lafayette, Calif., a Bay Area suburb, and buy one in Bend.

Lim has held technical, managerial, consulting and executive positions at Silicon Valley companies, from global information-technology applications manager at Agile Software Corp., which the publicly traded software producer Oracle Corp. bought in 2007, to client services manager and consultant at the recent application programming interface management start-up Mashery Inc.

He believes GearTribe could take off and expand for a few reasons, including lessons he learned from watching several versions of group-buying sites pop up and then disappear during the dot-com bubble.

Watching trends

After deciding to hold off in 2007, he went back to working at other people’s companies. In the next few years, he observed Internet trends, and he tinkered with his business plan accordingly.

For example, as the online social networks Facebook and Twitter have emerged as tools for promotion, Lim has elected to add those components to GearTribe. And Groupon has matured and brought hope back for the viability of the group-buying website model. Lim also decided GearTribe should take 25 percent of sales, about half the usual commission rate for group-buying sites, he said, opening up room for competitive advantage from the companies for which they run deals.

Additionally, overhead for an Internet-based company such as GearTribe is lower now, as Lim has become adept at outsourcing Web development work to India. He spends late nights communicating with developers in the Indian city of Chennai working on the GearTribe website.

And Lim no longer has to worry about funding. At the beginning of this year, his business plan got into the hands of the Evanses, who have funded, co-founded or started a number of businesses, including PV Powered.

Gwil Evans said he and his wife decided to invest in GearTribe because they liked the look of Lim’s business plan.

He said he’s read a report suggesting the group-buying industry should grow 40 to 50 percent a year in the next five years.

As for start-ups themselves, he said one in a hundred will survive.

“If you don’t take a chance,” he said, “you don’t stand a chance, and, you know, we go for it.”

The couple have given Lim enough money for him to turn away venture capitalists interested in investing in the start-up. They declined to disclose the amount of seed money they have put up.

The Evanses are also offering their knowledge and skill as Lim works to actualize his vision for GearTribe. Gwil, who has been a stock broker, helped start PV Powered, and opened a restaurant, sits on GearTribe’s board of directors. Gale, vice president of marketing, works with clients to conceive the best possible offers and then writes deal copy.

The couple have a 30-something percent stake in company ownership. Lim, the company’s president, said he owns about 51 percent.

For the launch, the site will run place-specific offers for nine outdoor meccas — Austin, Texas; Bend; Billings, Mont.; Boulder, Colo.; Lake Tahoe, on the state line separating California and Nevada; Portland; Salt Lake City; San Diego; and Seattle.

Should GearTribe meet its owners’ benchmarks for success, Lim said the website could start doing business in more cities, as deals get locked in. Within 12 to 18 months, if everything works right, Lim said, GearTribe could offer place-specific deals in cities across the country.

The great outdoors

One distinction between Groupon and GearTribe, Lim said, is target markets. Groupon, he said, operates in population centers. GearTribe, by contrast, primarily appeals to fans of the outdoors and, to a lesser extent, the bigger cities from which tourists come to visit those places.

Lim’s site also stands out from Groupon by featuring some deals available to any customer, regardless of location. And in time, Gale Evans said, the site will start promoting packages featuring, say, lodging, food and a ski lift ticket.

With all its details, GearTribe excites Lim.

“I think we’ve got something here, I really do,” Lim said.