Rocket Internet leads $11M Series B investment in CupoNation

CupoNation, a Rocket Internet-backed deals and discounts portal, has raised $11 million (around Rs 75.5 crore) in Series B round of funding from a group of investors, including existing investor Rocket Internet AG.

The other investors are Holtzbrink Ventures, New Enterprise Associates (NEA), e.ventures, ru-Net, Deutsche Telekom Strategic Investments (DTSI), Silicon Valley Bank and Columbia Lake Partners.

According to VCCEdge, the company received its first round of investment from Rocket Internet in 2012.

The new capital will be used for global expansion and supporting growth in locations where it is already operational.

The startup was founded in 2012 and operates in about 20 countries. It is led by managing directors Gerhard Trautmann, Adrian Renner and Andreas Fruth.

"This new round of fundraising will help us to grow our business further and strengthening our position as one of the biggest operators of digital platforms for discounts outside of the US," Fruth said in a statement.

Rocket Internet's core model is to replicate successful global internet businesses in emerging markets outside China with rigorous marketing. It brings in industry executives, gives them stakes in its companies and designates them as co-founder, founder or CEO. Most of its portfolio companies operate in multiple regions.

In the deals and discounts space, a lot of Indian players have also received investment lately. Cashback and coupons site CashKaro has raised an undisclosed amount in funding from Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus of Tata Sons, last month. This came soon after the startup received $4 million in a Series A round led by venture capital firm Kalaari Capital and others in November 2015.

Mumbai-based Logicserve Technologies Pvt Ltd, which owns and operates coupon provider Couponraja.in and price comparison site CompareRaja.in, raised $500,000 (Rs 3 crore) from Mahesh Pratapneni, Pallab Chatterjee and a bunch of unnamed investors in June. Other players in this segment include Times Internet-owned CouponDunia, LafaLafa, MyDala, and others.