Germany-based retailer Tengelmann Group has bought a 13% stake in Munich-based e-commerce company Deal United for an undisclosed sum as part of a series B funding round for the portfolio company.
Tengelmann has joined a corporate venturing unit of German-based media group Bertelsmann, Germany-based bank KFW Bankengruppe, state investment fund High-Tech Gründerfonds and venture capital firm Venture Incubator, which was founded by management consultancy firm McKinsey and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich (ETHZ), in backing Deal United. Last year, Deal United raised €5m ($7m) in a series A round, according to news provider FinSMEs.
Deal United provides vouchers for shopping to pay for on-line products. Since the beginning of the year the group has more than doubled its turnover compared to last year, although it did not disclose its revenues.
Christian Winter, chief executive of Tengelmann E-Commerce, a corporate venturing arm of Tengelmann, said: "What distinguishes Deal United is the ability to offer an added value payment method for all parties participating."
Tengelmann said its wholly-owned subsidiary E-Commerce-Beteiligungs has been buying stakes in growth business since the end of 2009 and "already ranks as one of the leading start-up investors in Germany".