ZALORA secures S$124m investment though German holding company

Four investors including Tengelmann Group.

Fashion & beauty online store ZALORA, which has a focused presence in Singaporea and other South-East Asian countries, announced that it has secured a USD100 million (SGD124 million) round of funding through its German holding company, from investors Summit Partners, Investment AB Kinnevik, Verlinvest and Tengelmann Group.

"The new capital will support ZALORA's efforts to build on these recent successes to scale up operations and gain an even stronger foothold throughout South-East Asia, serving 600 million potential online shopping customers in the region. The investment will also be used to extend ZALORA's current portfolio of 500 local and international brands including over 20,000 products in every country," said ZALORA.

ZALORA added that this new round of financing represents one of the largest e-commerce investments in the emerging market space and comes just two months after Tengelmann’s initial ground-breaking investment, signaling investors’ confidence in the online retailer after months of steady growth.

Michele Ferrario, Managing Director at ZALORA: “Our company is one of the fastest growing e-commerce companies in South-East Asia and has bright prospects. It is an honor for us that investors of such great repute have invested into an e-commerce company as young as ZALORA. Our goal is to continue serving up world-class products and services, so everyone in South-East Asia can benefit from the wide selection of products at ZALORA, the convenience of our e-platform, and the speed of our delivery.”

ZALORA has delivered its one millionth order since the store’s launch just over a year ago. The company operates in nine countries and offers a large selection of top international fashion & beauty brands, which were previously only available in capital cities.

The first year for ZALORA also saw mobile commerce as a key driver of growth with over 25% of revenue now coming from customers on mobile phones and tablets. Zalora said it responded quickly to this insight by updating its mobile offering with its first shopping app released on iPhone app stores. Within 24 hours of launch, the app became the #1 lifestyle app for all ZALORA countries, and the top overall app for Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam’s app stores.