Clone Factory Rocket Internet: Waiting For Lift-off

FT.COM - Oct 20 - With a €5B market cap, Rocket is Europe's most valuable technology company. Investors' faith in Rocket is built on the idea of replicating successful Internet businesses, and set them up in new markets. (eDarling - clone of eHarmony). Rocket was launched in 2007, and has grown to employ 30k people. The company went public a year ago (the €6.7B IPO was the largest in Germany since 2007), and attracted funds from high-profile names. It reported loss €46M this year. Rocket owns hundreds of shell companies, as well as minority stakes in businesses that are not consolidated into the parent. Mr Samwer, Rocket's founder and CEO, acknowledges the complexity but suggests it reflects the nature of the business. Since the listing, Rocket has raised ~€600M in February and €550M in July.