Helpling, a Germany-based online marketplace for hiring home cleaners incubated by Rocket Internet, has received €43m ($47m) in a series B round featuring Rocket, Reuters reported yesterday.
The round was also backed by Lakestar, Kite Ventures and Lukas Gadowski, the co-founder of Germany-based Facebook competitor StudiVZ.
Helpling secured $17m in a December 2014 series A round including Mangrove Capital, Phenomen Ventures, Point Nine Capital and Gadowski. The company also acquired its rival in Singapore, Spickify, for an undisclosed sum earlier this month.
Founded in January 2014, Helpling has quickly grown to operate in some 200 cities across 12 countries. Its platform enables home owners to book vetted cleaners for a minimum of two hours at a time. The cleaners are insured through Helpling for any damages to a client’s belongings.
Helpling will use the series B funding to increase its market share in these countries by expanding its online and offline marketing efforts.
Rocket Internet counts corporates including retail chain Tengelmann, internet services provider United Internet, telecommunications firm Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company and conglomerate Access Industries among its investors.