Rocket Internet

Rocket Internet SE

Company type	Private ( Societas Europaea )
Industry	Online retailing, venture capital
Founded	2007;17 years ago (2007)
Founder	Marc, Oliver and Alexander Samwer
Headquarters	Berlin, Germany
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Oliver Samwer (CEO), Peter Kimpel (CFO), Alexander Kudlich (Group managing director)
Revenue	€2.2 billion (2016) [1]
Number of employees	300 (2015), incl. ventures 30,000
Website	rocket-internet.com

Rocket Internet SE is a German Internet company headquartered in Berlin. The company builds startups and owns shareholdings in various models of internet retail businesses. ^{[2] [3] [4]} The company model is known as a startup studio or a venture builder. ^[5]

Contents

• History
• The network of companies
• Divestments
• Controversy
• References
• Further reading

It provides office space to new companies at its headquarters in Berlin, with IT support, marketing services and access to investors. As of 2016, Rocket Internet has more than 28,000 employees across its worldwide network of companies, which consists of over 100 entities active in 110 countries. ^{[6] [7]} The company's market capitalization was €3.49 billion as of 3 November 2017. ^[8] On 12 July 2021, the market capitalization was €3.7 billion. ^[9]

History

The company was founded in Berlin in 2007 by three brothers: Marc, Oliver and Alexander Samwer ^[10] and was once also connected to the European Founders Fund, an associated company.

In 2008, Rocket Internet founded Zalando, ^[11] emulating the business model of US online retailer Zappos.com. ^[12]

On 1 July 2014, Rocket Internet changed its legal form from a GmbH (private limited company) to an AG (public limited company). ^[13] The initial public offering took place on 2 October 2014 on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange at €42.50 per share. The company was listed in the Entry Standard and got uplisted in Prime Standard on 26 September 2016. In October 2016 it was announced that Rocket Internet replaces Chorus Clean Energy AG in SDAX. ^[14] Rocket Internet SE joined the MDAX index of German mid-cap stocks on 19 March 2018. This decision was announced by Deutsche Börse AG (Frankfurt Stock Exchange) on 5 March 2018. On 18 March 2015 the company changed its legal form into an SE (Societas Europaea). ^[15]

In mid-December 2016, Global Founders held 37.1% in Rocket Internet, Kinnevik 13.2%, United Internet 8.3%, Baillie Gifford 6.5%, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company 6.1% and Access Industries 6.0%. ^[16]

Holtzbrinck Ventures held a 1.8% share, with main investors holding shares of 3.4%; 16.3% was held in free float. In January 2017, Rocket Internet Capital Partners announced its final closing of $1 billion dedicated to early stage and growth equity investments. It is the biggest tech fund of any VC firm to date in Europe. ^[17]

On 1 September 2020, Rocket Internet announced its delisting. ^{[18] [19]} As of February 2021, Rocket Internet was recognized as one of the top startup studios based on website traffic to its top 3 portfolio companies. ^[20]

The network of companies

Rocket Internet follows the strategy of building companies on the basis of proven Internet-based business models. According to Rocket Internet's financial statements the company especially concentrates on Food & Groceries, Fashion, Home & Living and Travel.

In addition to the companies in the five industry sectors, Rocket Internet owns stakes in companies at varying maturity stages, ranging from recently launched models to companies that are in the process of establishing leadership positions or still expanding their geographic reach.

Rocket Internet's current portfolio englobes the following companies: ^[21]

Rocket Internet's most notable unit is Global Founders Capital, its venture capital investment arm. Its debt financing arm, Global Growth Capital was set up in 2016. In 2020, Rocket Internet launched Flash Ventures ^[22]

Divestments

Rocket Internet's past investments include shares in the following companies: ^[23]

Controversy

The company has been criticised for its "copycat" strategy of founding startups which replicate the business models of other established, successful companies. ^[2]

In 2011, 20 of the then-130 employees left Rocket Internet at the same time. ^{[24] [25]} According to media coverage at the time, the reason for this string of layoffs was "bad quality of new products" and a "gruff manner" towards employees in the course of Rocket Internet's expansion into a "large corporation". The former Rocket Internet managers subsequently went on to found the incubator Project A Ventures with help from the Otto Group. ^[26]

Questions were raised around Rocket's support of multiple competing companies in a particular business sector. Rocket Internet's original backing of both Take Eat Easy and Delivery Hero was questioned when Take Eat Easy was forced into liquidation in July 2016. ^[27]

Related Research Articles

Kinnevik AB is a Swedish investment company that was founded in 1936 by the Stenbeck, Klingspor and von Horn families.

TechCrunch is an American global online newspaper focusing on topics regarding high-tech and startup companies. It was founded in June 2005 by Archimedes Ventures, led by partners Michael Arrington and Keith Teare.

500 Global is an early-stage venture fund and seed accelerator founded in 2010 by Dave McClure and Christine Tsai. The fund admitted a first "class" of twelve startups to its incubator office in Mountain View, California in February 2011. They expanded to a second class of 21 in June 2011 and a third class of 34 in October 2011.

Wimdu, powered by HomeToGo, is an online marketplace for booking lodging, accessible by website and mobile app for iOS and Android. The company does not own any lodging; it is merely a broker and receives commissions from every booking. It is set up as a "clone" of similar websites. Wimdu searches and redirects users to the website that has the relationship with the lodging provider such as Expedia, Booking.com, HomeAway, Vrbo, Hotels.com, TripAdvisor, FlipKey, and Airbnb.

Delivery Hero SE is a German multinational online food ordering and food delivery company based in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 2011, the company operates in 70+ countries internationally in Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin and South America, and the Middle East, and partners with 500,000+ restaurants. Delivery Hero has increasingly branched out beyond food delivery, and is a leading player in the emerging category of quick commerce, which delivers small batch orders in under an hour.

Wise, previously known as TransferWise, is a financial technology company focused on global money transfers. Headquartered in London, it was founded by Kristo Käärmann and Taavet Hinrikus in January 2011. As of 2023, it offers three main products: Wise Account, Wise Business, and Wise Platform.

Konga.com is a Nigerian e-commerce company founded in July 2012 with headquarters in Gbagada, Lagos State. It offers a third-party online marketplace, as well as first-party direct retail spanning various categories including consumer electronics, fashion, home appliances, books, children's items, computers & accessories, phones and tablets, health care, and personal care products. The company also has a logistics service (EXPRESS), which enables the timely shipment and delivery of packages to customers.

Jumia is a marketplace, logistics service and payment service, operating throughout Africa. The logistics service enables the delivery of packages through local partners while the payment services facilitate the payments of online transactions. It has partnered with more than 100,000 sellers and individuals.

Easy Taxi was a mobile app for taxi hailing that was available in 30 countries, and it is now part of Cabify, from Maxi Mobility group. The app allowed users to book a taxi and track it in real time. The same iOS, Android, or Windows Phone app was used in all places in which the partner taxis operate. Easy Taxi was founded in 2011 in Brazil and expanded globally, covering the network of 30 countries and more than 420 cities. At December 2014, the company reported it reached the number of 17 million users and more than 400,000 taxi drivers were affiliated with the Easy Taxi network.

Carmudi is an online car site that focuses on emerging markets. The portal was launched in 2013 and is owned by Rocket Internet.

Foodpanda is a Singaporean online food and grocery delivery platform owned by Berlin-based Delivery Hero. Foodpanda operates as the lead brand for Delivery Hero in Asia, with its headquarters in Singapore. It is currently the largest food and grocery delivery platform in Asia, outside of China, operating in 11 markets across Asia.

Runa Capital is an international venture capital firm headquartered in Luxembourg that invests in deep tech, enterprise software, and fintech infractructure early-stage startups. From 2010 through 2022, Runa Capital raised around $500 million in 4 funds and invested in over 100 companies in more than 14 countries of Europe and North America, including Nginx, MariaDB, Zopa, Brainly, drchrono, Smava, and Mambu.

A startup studio, also known as a startup factory, or a startup foundry, or a venture studio, is a studio-like company that aims at building several startup companies in succession. This style of business building is referred to as "parallel entrepreneurship".

Kaymu is an online marketplace founded in 2013, providing localized C2C and B2C products in Africa, Europe and Asia. The platform lets buyers and sellers meet to make deals on new and used fashion items, mobile phones, jewelry, and home appliances.

Lazada Group is an international e-commerce company and one of the largest e-commerce operators in Southeast Asia, with over 10,000 third-party sellers as of November 2014, and 50 million annual active buyers as of September 2019.

Nestpick is an online platform for on-demand housing; month to month rentals of furnished apartments & rooms, operating worldwide. The website facilitates an easy exploration of a wide range of furnished apartments, rooms and student accommodation. Offers from many international providers are aggregated on the Nespick website. The service is targeted mainly at expats and students relocating nationally and internationally, searching for furnished mid- to long-term accommodation in unfamiliar cities.

OpenRent is an online letting agent and property service provider, founded in 2012. It is a UK-based startup company focused on technological solutions to property rentals. It claims to be the largest letting agent in the UK based on number of properties, boasting over 5 million users as of 2022.

Pixonic is a video game developer based in Limassol, Cyprus. Following the company's establishment in 2009, its initial focus was on developing and publishing social network games. In 2013, Pixonic concentrated its efforts on the mobile device market. The company is best known for producing War Robots.

Quiqup is a Dubai-based logistics company that provides last-mile e-commerce delivery services throughout the UAE. As of June 2022, the company had over 100 employees across the globe, and over 200 drivers in its fleet in the UAE.

Global Fashion Group (GFG) is an international online fashion and lifestyle retailer headquartered in Luxembourg. The company was founded in 2011 as a joint venture between Rocket Internet and Kinnevik. It serves as an umbrella organization for multiple regional e-commerce platforms specializing in fashion, including Zalora in Southeast Asia, Dafiti in Latin America, and THE ICONIC in Australia and New Zealand.

References

Further reading

• Rocket Internet backed Global Savings Group raises €19M. Global Savings Group: Investoren gehen auf Schnäppchenjagd. 19 October 2017
• Orlando, Paul (2014). Startup Sacrilege for the Underdog Entrepreneur. p. 48. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
• Steve O'Hear (16 April 2015). "Rocket Internet Acquires Restaurant Delivery Service Volo". TechCrunch. AOL. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
• "Rocket Internet Buys Food-Delivery Startup Volo". pymnts.com. 17 April 2015. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
• Ingrid Lunden (8 April 2015). "Rocket Internet Fashion Group GFG Raises $35M, Poaches Amazon Exec To Lead It". TechCrunch. AOL. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
• Steve O'Hear (14 April 2015). "Rocket Internet Backs European Restaurant Delivery Service Take Eat Easy". TechCrunch. AOL. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
• Pride, William M.; Ferrell, O. C. (10 January 2014). Foundations of Marketing. Cengage Learning. ISBN   9781305176638 . Retrieved 29 April 2015.