Rocket, Kinnevik commit $33m to fashion portal

The investment is an extension of the company's most recent funding round, announced as EUR300 million in April. GFG's valuation, given as EUR1 billion in the earlier announcement, remains the same after the expansion of the funding round. Kinnevik contributed EUR161 million to the round, according to Kinnevik's interim second quarter results.

Rocket will hold a 20% stake in GFG following the investment, according to a separate statement, while Kinnevik will hold 35%. Separately, Kinnevik holds a 15% stake in Rocket itself. Additional existing investors, who were not identified, also participated in the funding round.

Rocket formed GFG in 2014, combining five emerging markets e-commerce brands from its portfolio such as India's Jabong and Southeast Asia and Australia-focused Zalora. The move fits in Rocket's broader strategy of rolling up internet assets into stand-alone regional platforms; other examples include Asia Pacific Internet Group, founded in 2014, and food delivery platform Foodpanda, which has absorbed a number of peers across Asian markets.

GFG's EUR1 billion valuation, announced in April, was a sharp cut from Rocket's previous estimation of EUR3.1 billion recorded last year. Kinnevik gave the same valuation at the time, saying that its calculation was based on the company's last annual revenue figure and net cash position, along with those of similar listed companies.

It came amid wider global declines in tech valuations; in Asia, mutual fund T. Rowe Price and Morgan Stanley have both marked down their investments in Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart, along with a number of other global technology companies.

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• Topics
• Southeast Asia
• South Asia
• Expansion
• Consumer
• Technology
• India
• Rocket Internet
• TMT