Berlin-based internet giant Rocket Internet has announced that its investment firm Rocket Internet Capital Partners (RICP) has closed its fresh $1 billion round. It has received commitments worth the said amount and will now be utilising them on a global scale — to invest their way through technology startups operating at different stages. It will, however, mostly focus on early stage and growth equity investments.
This huge RICP fund has raised capital from a diverse set of global investors, including financial institutions, pension funds, asset managers, foundations and high net worth individuals. Rocket Internet itself has pumped in a massive $140 million i.e 14 percent of the commitments that’ve received.
As stated in the official statement, this $1 billion infusion makes Rocket Internet’s investment arm Europe’s largest internet-focused fund. The company now intends to focus its investments in software, marketplaces, e-commerce, fintech, marketplaces, and travel ventures. It’s primarily aimed at generating strong returns for investors by investing in market-leading, high growth Internet-related businesses, says the press release.
Speaking on the fund-raise, Rocket Internet’s CEO Oliver Samwer says,
RICP having reached the hard cap of USD 1.0 billion shows the strong interest of leading investors, who share the enthusiasm for the attractive investment opportunity RICP presents.
Rocket Internet will most likely be keeping its model of courting innovative global startups and pushing the ‘proven’ business models across other regions via investments in new ventures. The investment arm will be banking on its parent’s know how, regional and local expertise, along with its deep network to look for fresh investments.
But, the German behemoth’s business practices and health has recently been called into question by investors and analysts around the globe. There is an uncertainty surrounding Rocket Internet’s operations, where it is uncertain if the process of extending proven business models to every region is hurting them. The company has recently parted ways with some of their most prominent businesses, such as food delivery giant Foodpanda and Indian fashion e-commerce platform Jabong — a part of Global Fashion Group.
It is, however, impressive that investors still have vested interest in Rocket Internet. And it is to an extent that they are ready to push more than 85 percent of the investments into their latest fund. We’ll now have to wait and watch what business model finds innovative enough to fund and expand on a global scale.
