Investors commit $100m to another Rocket Internet Asia retail start-up

It comes one month after four of these five investors committed $100 million to Zalora, another Southeast Asia start-up backed by German VC firm Rocket Internet.

Lazada was launched last year by Rocket with a view to creating the Amazon of Southeast Asia. It operates in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. Lazada estimates that 99% of Southeast Asian consumers still prefer to shop offline but the company's mobile app has accounted for 10% of sales within 10 days of its launch.

According to AVCJ Research, the previous round of funding, announced in September 2012, saw J.P. Morgan put in $50 million, while Summit and Tengelmann contributed $26 million and $20 million, respectively.

Lazada CEO Maximilian Bittner said the company is investing in its supply chain and logistics in order to maintain an adequate level of customer service as operations expand. He told Reuters that gross merchandise value for May hit the "three digit millions" of euros.

Rocket has set up numerous e-commerce platforms in recent years, seeking to replicate successful internet business models in new markets. Zalora, a fashion retailer, is more mature than Lazada but has a similar profile, targeting much the same markets in the region and relying heavily on mobile commerce.

Rocket's other Asian ventures include Wimdu, Office Fab, foodpanda and pricepanda.

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Save this article  
• Send to  

• Topics
• Venture
• Consumer
• Technology
• Southeast Asia
• Venture
• TMT
• Consumer
• Southeast Asia
• Summit Partners
• Verlinvest
• Rocket Internet