If you thought that all the problems that Rocket Internet has had bringing its portfolio of startups and its business overall into the black would have spelled setbacks for future investing, think again. This week, the firm — based out of Berlin — reported that it had raised a new $1 billion fund, the biggest tech fund of any VC firm to date in Europe, it claims.
The Rocket Internet Capital Partners fund, as it is called, will focus both on early and later stage investments, and marks a shift of sorts for Rocket Internet.
The company will put some of the investment into existing portfolio companies — the company is known for incubating and growing e-commerce businesses around the globe built on models usually pioneered by others (‘clones’ is the less charitable term you may have heard) — BUT it will also start making more investments in startups beyond those Rocket Internet itself had a hand in starting.
Earlier this month, Rocket Internet was part of a $100 million round for Funding Circle , the P2P lending startup based in London. A spokesperson said that it’s been making investments out of the fund for over a year now.
