Rocket Internet‘s African e-commerce platform Jumia has secured €20 million in funding from Summit Partners. The Amazon clone, which claims to be the continent’s largest and fastest-growing e-commerce venture, will use the money to drive further growth as it seeks to confirm its position in the African market.
Launched in spring 2012, Jumia currently has websites in Morocco, Egypt and Nigeria. The announcement comes weeks after Rocket’s Colombian equivalent LINIO received a similar investment, believed to be around €15m, from German retail group Tengelmann, and acts as further proof of the controversial incubator’s race to establish its companies in developing markets.
Jumia offers a range of products including fashion, shoes, electronics, books and even sex toys. Summit Partners will take a stake in the firm through its German holding company,
In a statement, Jumia Africa Global CEOs Jeremy Hodara and Sacha Poignonnec said together: “This investment, which comes on the heels of a previous investment in Jumia by Millicom and JP Morgan Asset Management, allows us to offer new categories of products, strengthen our operations, deliver to our customers even faster, and recruit the best talent.”
Jumia plans to expand into other countries in the coming months.