Germany-based relocation services provider Movinga has raised €15m ($17m) in a funding round backed by e-commerce group Rocket Internet, Handelsblatt has reported.
The round featured Santo Venture Capital, the VC branch of family office Athos Service, as well as venture capital vehicle Environmental Technology Fund, VC firm Earlybird and the Strüngmann family office.
Founded in 2015, Movinga operates a home removals marketplace that aims to simplify the booking process for both consumers and removal companies. The company’s algorithm also ensures trucks are full during each leg of the journey to increase efficiency.
The funding will go towards an acquisition of Move24, the relocation services provider backed by Innogy Ventures, a corporate venturing vehicle for energy utility RWE, that was forced to declare bankruptcy in February this year.
Rumours of a merger between Movinga and Move24 date back to May 2017, when Move24 raised $14.2m in series C funding from Innogy, Holtzbrinck Ventures, DN Capital, Piton Capital and Cherry Ventures, and denied the acquisition reports.
Movinga will also acquire a French competitor, though it has not yet disclosed its identity.
The money will also support the launch of Movinga Now, a platform for small relocation jobs within cities costing up to €500. The company has already purchased two electric trucks to begin offering this service in Berlin.
Movinga previously obtained $26.4m in an October 2017 round led by Santo, with participation from Rocket Internet and Earlybird, the latter of which first invested as part of a seed round of undisclosed size in August 2015 together with assorted angel investors.
Global Founders Capital (GFC), an investment vehicle for Rocket Internet’s co-founders, supplied $6.6m in series A funding in September 2015.
Movinga raised $25m in a series B round in January 2016 that featured GFC, Index Ventures, Earlybird and Heilemann Ventures, before securing $18m in an extension the following December from Earlybird, GFC, STS Ventures and individual investors.
