Blavatnik Injects US $200 Mln Into Rocket Internet

The Samwer brothers’ now famous Berlin incubator, Rocket Internet, has bagged a whopping USD 200 mln in funding from Russian-American billionaire Len Blavatnik. With that investment, Blavatnik’s Access Industries will now be the second largest investor in Rocket Internet, after Swedish investment house Kinnevik’s recent Eur 300 mln that was pumped in during the last quarter. Len Blavatnik’s fortune is tagged at USD 11.9 bln, making him one of the top 100 richest men in the world in terms of personal fortune. His links with Rocket Internet have been there since his investment into Rocket Internet’s target companies GlossyBox. However, this is the first major, significant, direct investment that Blavatnik has made in Rocket Internet. With all the rounds of investment that Rocket Internet has attracted, the total now stands at EUR 855 mln and seems to be heading quickly for the EUR 1 bln mark. In fact, word has it that Blavatnik himself may exercise some options that will bring him additional Rocket Internet shares and help the company achieve the target amount sooner rather than later.

Rocket Internet (www.rocket-internet.de)

Rocket Internet is one of the premier business incubators on the European startup market, and has established nearly 150 companies till date. Of that figure, 25 percent have already gone through the exit phase. More than 15 percent, or 2,500 jobs of the total 15,000 generated by Rocket Internet have been created in 2012. Rocket is now poised to enter markets such as Southeast Asia, MENA , South America and Turkey, a fast-growing market for start-ups and collaborations. Rocket itself is tuned for high growth in the coming months and is aggressively planning its expansion into rolling out its products to the international markets mentioned. The nearly EUR 500 mln in funding that Rocket has received over the last quarter alone give it the firepower needed to carry out this ambitious expansion plan and cement its leadership position not only in Germany but in the European market as a whole.