The company sees potential in he regions growing middle class and high penetration of phones, straitstimes.com reports. Moreover, it also sees opportunities in virgin markets such as Myanmar, which allows it to be first-movers in areas like ecommerce, said Asia-Pacific chief executive Hanno Stegmann, cited by the source.
It has already launched Vaniday, which connects beauty and wellness professionals online, in Australia, with plans on the table to start in Singapore, he added. Mobile app Lyke is to be launched in Indonesia, which lets consumers discover fashion and then buy products via their phones.
The firm formed a joint venture called Asia Internet Holdings with Qatars telecom company Ooredoo earlier in 2015. It has EUR 200 million to invest in start-ups by 2018, with Rocket taking the lead. Most of the funds will go into ecommerce and consumer internet businesses. Rocket Internet replicates successful business ideas in its portfolio and picks entrepreneurial executives to run them.
New markets like Myanmar are attractive to Rocket because they allow it to be entrenched there first. It was the first to launch an ecommerce portal in Myanmar, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal.
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