Making Rocket Internet the world’s largest incubator of internet start-ups
Rocket Internet announced today that it has raised a total of USD 500 million from partners Investment AB Kinnevik and Access Industries since May 2012, representing the largest investment ever made in an internet incubator and accelerator company. The funds will be used to further expand Rocket Internet´s world-wide network of successful internet start-ups.
Rocket Internet is the world’s leading internet incubator, bringing together the four elements required to create digital companies on a global basis: team, concept, technology, and capital. To date, Rocket Internet has started over 100 companies developing many of them across five continents. Rocket Internet’s core team of experts works with outstanding entrepreneurs, establishes new businesses, and then 
supports the new enterprises to maximize their growth. Rocket Internet´s engineering work is primarily done in-house through its 250 dedicated IT engineers based in Rocket Internet’s corporate headquarters in Berlin and in various technology development centers throughout the world. Currently, Rocket Internet holds a significant interest in 75 ventures with 20,000 employees in over 50 countries world-wide.
Rocket Internet´s strategy is to develop and support leading, highly innovative e-commerce companies in the fashion, general merchandise and furniture sectors. Rocket is targeting Europe, Russia, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, India, South East Asia and Australia with its ventures – covering in total five billion people and 60% of global GDP. Since 2010, Rocket Internet has helped to create and grow over a dozen leading e-commerce players including:
In the fashion ecommerce sector:
· Dafiti, the fashion market leader in Latin America
· Lamoda, the biggest fashion ecommerce site in Russia
· Zalora, the market leader in South East Asia
· The Iconic, the market leader in Australia
· Namshi, the market leader in the Middle East
· Zando, the market leader in Africa
In the general merchandise ecommerce sector:
· Lazada, the largest ecommerce company in South East Asia
· Linio, the largest ecommerce company in Mexico, Colombia, Peru and Venezuela
· Jumia, the largest ecommerce company in Africa
In the online furniture and home decoration ecommerce sector:
· Home 24, the leading online furniture site in Europe
· Mobly, the leading online furniture site in Latin America
· Westwing, the market leader for home & living in Europe, Russia and Latin America
Other companies recently founded by Rocket Internet include (i) payment service provider and Red Herring award winner Paymill.com, (ii) Foodpanda.com, a fast growing food delivery service company currently available to three billion people in over 20 countries, and (iii) EasyTaxi, the market leader for online taxi booking in Latin America and Asia. Rocket also holds a participation in Zalando, Europe´s largest online fashion company.
Rocket Internet companies are backed by leading global institutional investors and entrepreneurial families. Recent capital raises include (i) USD 100 million for 18 month old Zalora, market leader in online fashion in South East Asia, (ii) USD 100 million for year old Lazada, largest general merchandise ecommerce site in South East Asia, (iii) USD 130 million for two year old Lamoda, market leader in online fashion ecommerce in Russia, and (iv) USD 25 million for 18 month old The Iconic, market leader in fashion ecommerce in Australia. The Lamoda capital raise was the largest investment ever made in Russian ecommerce; the Zalora and Lazada investments were the largest ever made in internet companies in South East Asia. The Iconic capital raise was the largest investment ever in Australian ecommerce.
Oliver Samwer, Rocket Internet’s co-founder said: “This is a highly significant investment from our partners Kinnevik and Access Industries. The additional capital supports our goal to be the world´s largest and most successful creator of high impact companies in the internet space and reaffirms the confidence our investors have in our business. We will use the new capital to further strengthen our global presence while continuing to build successful companies together with great entrepreneurs.”
Rocket Internet was founded in 2007 by Alexander, Marc and Oliver Samwer. Investment AB Kinnevik and Access Industries became Rocket Internet investors and partners in 2008 and 2012, respectively. Rocket Internet is headquartered in Berlin, Germany, and operates 25 international offices in five continents.
Over the past 15 years, Rocket and/or the Samwer Brothers have created, developed, and successfully exited over 25 significant online businesses to leading international companies such as eBay, Groupon, Rakuten, and NBC Universal. They were also early investors in Facebook, LinkedIn, Eventbrite and many other successful internet companies.
