Rocket Internet-incubated fashion e-tailer The Iconic raises $25M

Australian online fashion retailer The Iconic has raised $25 million in fresh funding. The round was led by new investor Verlinvest, a Belgian investment holding company. Existing investors AB Kinnevik, a global investor; Summit Partners, a US-based growth equity firm; JP Morgan; and Rocket Internet also participated in the round.

The Iconic is a multi-branded e-shop that was founded in late 2011. Adam Jacobs, co-founder and MD of The Iconic, said the fund will be used to build logistics and customer service. He said the e-tailer is getting four million visitors a month. "This investment will allow us to enhance our top range of local and international fashion brands," he added. This is the second round of investment for the startup. It has earlier raised around $46 million (AUD50 million) from its earlier investors. The new investment makes The Iconic the most heavily funded Australian e-commerce venture.

The latest investor to join the startup is Verlinvest, a Belgian family owned, consumer-focused investment holding company that was founded in 1995; it has net assets worth over $913 million across multiple geographies.

This is the fourth funding in a row in Rocket Internet-incubated startups in less than three months. Last month, Rocket Internet-backed and South-east Asia-focused horizontal e-tailer Lazada raised $100 million in funding led by Verlinvest and existing investors Holtzbrinck Ventures, Kinnevik, Summit Partners and Tengelmann Group. Prior to that Southeast Asia-focused fashion and lifestyle e-tailer Zalora raised $100 million from Summit Partners, Investment AB Kinnevik, Verlinvest and Tengelmann Group. Before that, Foodpanda, a multi-location food ordering site also backed by Rocket Internet, raised $20 million from a group of investors including Investment AB Kinnevik and Phenomen Ventures.

Rocket Internet seems to investing heavily into its ventures across the globe. However, its Indian ventures are not getting the same attention from the investor. It backs a string of e-commerce startups in India, of which the most well known is Jabong.com. Last month, the incubator cum investment fund had quietly shut 21Diamonds.in, an online jewellery and fashion accessories retailer in India.

(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)