Germany-based e-commerce group Rocket Internet achieved a $420m first close of a freshly raised fund yesterday which included a $50m investment of its own.
Rocket Internet incubates its own e-commerce offerings but also makes VC investments, and has built up an extensive portfolio of e-commerce companies across multiple continents, many of which share business models which are tailored for their regional markets.
Rocket Internet Capital Partners Fund will invest in the same businesses as its parent company, but will enable Rocket Internet to commit greater amounts of capital to later-stage investments while also making fundraising more straightforward for its portfolio companies.
The firm’s equity investors, some of which have been partners on funds in the past, include retailer Tengelmann, conglomerate Access Industries and telecommunications company PLDT.
Although the company has not revealed the target for the fund’s final close, reports in August 2015 suggested it was preparing to raise $1.1bn for a growth-stage fund.
Rocket Internet has not however revealed the limited partners in the new fund, which is expected to invest over a 10-year period. It will largely hold off on large-scale investments, opting instead to concentrate on making its portfolio companies profitable.
Oliver Samwer, Rocket Internet’s CEO, said: “We are the only firm in Europe that has more than €2.1bn ($2.3bn) to invest in the internet [and] that has the expertise to invest it.
“This is a further sign that investors in Germany and Europe trust the internet and the company Rocket.”