Lazada Group – Wiki

Founded in 2012, out of the German incubator, Rocket Internet, Lazada is an online shopping and selling platform which operates in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Phillipines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Lazada launched as an Amazon-clone in a region Amazon had yet to expand to. They have built a product stack of 300 million SKUs which marks the widest range of products in Southeast Asia. Since then, Alibaba bought a controlling stake in Lazada Group in order to expand their platform to the Southeast Asian market.

In June 2019, Lazada Group became a partner with the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Funding

Series A

A $40 million dollar funding in November 2012 from Kinnevik went to Lazada through Rocket Internet, along with an undisclosed amount invested by J.P. Morgan Asset Management. Lazada committed the funding to build its platform and increase its product offering and reach.

Series B

In December of 2012, Lazada raised $26 million from Summit Partners. This brought their late 2012 investment to an estimated $100 million.

Series C

In January 2013 Lazada raised a rumored $20 million from German retail group Tengelmann.

Series D

In June 2013, Lazada raised $100 million. The round included Holtzbrinck Ventures, Kinnevik Investment AB, Summit Partners, Tengelmann Group and Verlinvest.

Series E

Tesco, the U.K.-based physical and online retailer, invested $250 million in Lazada. The strategic investment included cooperation on customer analytics, private label development and supply chain management.

Series F

In November 2014, Lazada announced an investment from Singapore’s Temasek Holdings for $250 million. The deal included participation from Kinnevek Investment AB, Verlinvest and Rocket Internet. Maximillian Bittner, CEO of Lazada Group, committed the money to logistics, infrastructure, payments solution and IT systems.

Series G

In April 2016, Alibaba invested $1 billion into Lazada Group which made Alibaba the platforms controlling shareholder. The deal included $500 million in newly-issued equity capital and purchases of existing shares from Lazada shareholders. Rocket Internet sold a 9.1% stake, Tesco sold an 8.6% and Kinnevik sold 3.8% stake.

Secondary Market

In June 2017, Alibaba paid close to $1 billion to raise its stake in Lazada from 51% to 83%. The deal saw only Temasek and Lazada management keep their stock.

Lazada raised a further $2 billion from Alibaba in March of 2018. The company intended to use the new funds to accelerate growth in Southeast Asia and deepen integration into Alibaba’s ecosystem.