Germany-based online retailer Lazada Group has secured €200m ($248m) in series F round from investors including corporate-backed incubator and venture capital firm Rocket Internet.
The round was led by Singaporean state-backed investment firm Temasek, which participated as a new investor. Investment firms Kinnevik and Verlinvest, both existing backers, also took part in the round, which valued Lazada at almost $1.2bn.
Incubated by Rocket Internet, Lazada has a diversified e-commerce business model similar to that of US-based Amazon. It currently operates in seven markets in Southeast Asia: Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia and Hong Kong.
Past corporate investors in Lazada include retail chain Tesco, which led a $250m series E round in December 2013 that also featured Kinnevik, Verlinvest and conglomerate Access Industries.
Holtzbrinck Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of Germany-based publisher Georg von Holtzbrinck, and Tengelmann Ventures, the corporate venturing unit owned by Germany-based retail conglomerate Tengelmann, had invested in a $100m series D round raised in June 2013, together with Rocket, Kinnevik, Verlinvest and venture capital firm Summit Partners.
Many of Lazada’s earlier rounds were not officially disclosed, but press reports suggest it could have raised as much as $736m, with past investors also including investment bank JP Morgan.