Rocket Internet’s mission is to become the world's largest Internet platform outside the United States and China.
The Samwer brothers (Oliver, Alexander, and Marc) of Germany all had an interest in starting a business. In 1998 they had an inspiration – why not take an existing company’s idea and do something similar? They decided to copy eBay’s model, and launched a company called Alando in early 1999, with funding help from one of Oliver’s old professors. eBay got wind of the company, and opted to avoid the competition by purchasing it for $43 million. Oliver became employed by the retail giant, taking on a role as a Managing Director for the German-language market.
Oliver left eBay and in 2000 he and his brothers launched ringtone provider Jamba, also inspired by an existing idea. This was followed by a sale to Verisign four years later for $273 million. The Samwers then established the European Founders Fund, a VC company that invested in startups. Their success with the copycat model led them to found Rocket Internet in 2007. The sole purpose of the new venture would be to identify successful companies and duplicate their business model in markets where it didn’t yet exist. Its category was known as “startup studio” or “venture builder”.
Rocket Internet focused its operations outside the United States and China. It targeted mobile and online retail services in five consumer industries: Fashion, Home & Living, Travel, Food & Groceries, and General Merchandise. It offered office space to the new businesses it launched, in addition to marketing services, IT support, and investor access. One of the first firms it founded was Zalando, a shoe seller inspired by Zappos. Others included Lazada (inspired by Amazon), BillPay (PayPal), EasyTaxi (Uber), and Pinspire (Pinterest). The strategy earned the firm the label of “clone factory.”
Rocket Internet became hugely successful; in 2013 alone the company and its many ventures combined raised $2 billion. In 2014 it carried out a victorious initial public offering. The firm now has businesses operating in more than 110 countries in six continents with over 36,000 workers. As of April 2015, its market value was said to be €8 billion.