Venture capital firm and incubator Rocket Internet is set to merge its Indonesia-based online marketplace Lamido into another of its e-commerce businesses, Malaysia-based Lazada, Daily Social reported today.
Lazada, which operates as an online shopping portal, will absorb Lamido’s staff, while Lamido, which launched in 2014, will shut down its operations.
Maximilian Bittner, chief executive of Lazada Group, told Tech in Asia earlier today: “With the rapid growth of both Lazada and Lamido marketplaces, we have experienced an increasing overlap between the customer and seller bases across the two platforms.
“Given the many synergies between the Lazada and Lamido brands, it is thus a natural step to combine their offerings. The integration will not only accelerate the expansion of our assortment, but also give our buyers and sellers a better experience. We believe the future is in a controlled marketplace like Lazada’s as consumers expect an effortless and reliable shopping experience.
Lazada has raised about $600m in funding in the past two years. Its investors include retail chains Tengelmann and Tesco, and conglomerate Access Industries.