• Inner AI

  Participated · Seed · Apr 2026

  Founded in 2023 and headquartered in São Paulo, Inner AI builds AI-powered productivity and business automation tools. Its platform integrates more than 50 AI models, including ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, into a single workspace. The company serves enterprise clients such as Embraer, Vivo, Sabesp, and Bayer. Inner AI’s second product, Squad.com, is an autonomous, collaborative AI agent platform designed to enable always-on digital workers across business functions. The company plans to use proceeds from its Seed round to accelerate the launch and development of Squad.com. Following the Seed, Inner AI has raised a total of R$42 million.

• Smava

  Led · Equity · Apr 2015

  Smava operates an online credit comparison platform that aggregates about 70 loan products ranging from €1,000 to €120,000 from over 20 banks and lending partners. Consumers select a loan on the platform and take it out directly; on average Smava borrowers pay roughly 35% less interest than the German national average. The company reported strong brokered loan volume growth, increasing about 35% from ~€2.0B in 2018 to ~€2.7B in 2019, with growth accelerating in Q1 2020. Founded in 2007 and based in Berlin, Smava has raised multiple funding rounds, most recently a €65M Series D over two years ago. Management says the new financing will be used to continue investments in digitalization and product innovations and to maintain growth through the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic. CEO and co-founder Alexander Artopé emphasized the package’s role in sustaining the company’s growth course despite the crisis. Smava operates an online marketplace/portal that matches consumers to loan offers using big-data credit analytics and algorithms, typically presenting about 70 offers drawn from roughly 25 banks and private lenders. The company began in 2007 as a peer-to-peer lending platform but shifted to include banks as the primary funding source; P2P now represents less than five percent of loans. Smava says its matching and automation cut average wait times from 10 days to 10 minutes and deliver average savings of about €2,000 for borrowers, while approval rates on the platform rise to roughly 80–85 percent versus about 50 percent through banks directly. Operational scale cited in the article includes about 300,000 customers, €1.2 billion in loans transacted this year and about €3 billion over the company’s lifetime. Smava has been profitable for the last year and takes around four percent from its loans, which the article estimates would imply roughly €48 million in revenues from those products. The company plans to expand beyond Germany across Europe and pursue partnerships with e-commerce platforms (for example, powering financing for eBay’s car portal in Germany). smava operates an online lending marketplace that offers bank-branded and funded third-party loans as well as peer-to-peer loans ranging from €1,000 to €120,000. The company is led by CEO and co-founder Alexander Artopé and is based in Berlin, Germany. smava has originated more than $1.75 billion in loans through its platform and employs over 180 people. The firm plans to use the new capital to expand its customer base, hire additional talent and continue enhancing its scoring technology. The product mix includes both bank-funded products and loans funded by private individuals, positioning smava across multiple lending channels. The company emphasizes technology-driven credit scoring as a core part of its offering. Smava is a German peer-to-peer lending platform that matches investors with borrowers for online loans. The company uses automated algorithms and scoring technology to vet and approve loan candidates, enabling lower interest rates for users. Smava reports it has loaned out $600 million through its platform and that loan originations grew by 100% in the last year. The fresh capital is intended to accelerate business growth, advance its scoring technology, hire talent, and further fuel expansion. Management says the aim is to offer fully automated loans to borrowers at the best rates in the near future. Smava competes with other online lenders such as Auxmoney, Zopa and Lending Club. Smava is a Berlin-based social lending marketplace operating a Zopa-style peer lending platform. It generates revenue by collecting a one-time 1% fee on funded loans from borrowers; lenders use the service cost-free. The company has originated roughly €4 million in loans to date. Smava closed a second financing round of €4 million with venture capital firms Earlybird and Hamburg-based Neuhaus Partners. Earlybird was an investor in the first round and Neuhaus Partners joined in this second round. The article notes that social lending marketplaces have proven viable outside the UK and US and suggests significant potential for the model in Germany, where traditional credit is less prevalent and social support is culturally ingrained.

• Helpling

  Participated · Series A · Dec 2014

  Helpling is a Rocket Internet–founded home‑services marketplace that connects customers with cleaners and other household service providers via its app. The company sells both on‑demand bookings and is exploring subscription‑based commerce and affiliate revenue models for its service providers. Helpling says it is continuing its "path to profitability" and previously disclosed €10 million in new funding in March. Over the next 12 months it plans to roll out additional household services internationally and invest in technological product development to increase platform automation. Helpling is working with Unilever on co‑branded marketing, content development and in‑store promotions, and is exploring using cleaners’ knowledge to help Unilever reach Helpling’s customers. Management has emphasized retaining and motivating quality cleaners as a key priority for the supply side of the marketplace. Helpling operates an online marketplace that lets consumers book a range of home services, with home cleaning as its entry vertical. The company has expanded its offering beyond cleaning to additional household services such as window cleaning, furniture assembly and paint work across 20 German cities. Helpling says more than 85% of its business comes from long-term customers who require weekly or bi-weekly cleaning, and its core markets became profitable during the Summer. Management plans to double down on the best user-acquisition channels and cross-sell additional services to convert more customers into repeat business. The company raised new funding to enable it to reach profitability within the next year. Mangrove Capital Partners said Helpling dominates the home cleaning sector in Europe. Helpling operates a two-sided marketplace that connects people seeking home cleaning with vetted cleaners and uses a rating algorithm to surface top providers. The service debuted in Berlin in March 2014 and has expanded to roughly 200 cities across Europe and elsewhere. Helpling cites more than 50,000 customers to date, while noting the vast majority of jobs are concentrated in its top 20 cities. The company says its marketplace is only profitable at scale and that repeat bookings drive the real revenue. Helpling centralizes cleaner recruitment and vetting to enable rapid expansion and relies on customer ratings for quality control. Management plans to use new funding to continue scaling operations and entering additional markets. Helpling is a Rocket Internet-backed cleaners-on-demand marketplace that connects vetted cleaners with customers. Launched in Berlin in March this year, the company says it is active in over 150 cities across eight markets in Europe and Latin America. Helpling does not disclose customer or cleaner counts and has not shared financial metrics. It establishes local offices with small teams and vets cleaners through a multistep process including interviews, cleaning tests, document submissions and references. The sector is crowded with competitors such as HomeJoy, Housekeep, Mopp/Handy, Hassle and TaskRabbit. Helpling says it aims to expand access to home cleaning via flexible, convenient and secure services, though it has not specified how the new funding will be used.

• Easy Taxi

  Led · Series D · Jul 2014

  Easy Taxi is a taxi-calling app launched in 2011 that connects riders with a large base of drivers in emerging markets. The app is available in 160 cities across 30 countries, concentrated in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Over the past year the company added more than 150,000 drivers, bringing its total to about 185,000. Easy Taxi faces competition from players such as Uber and Careem in the Middle East and Africa and GrabTaxi and Uber in Southeast Asia. Management says the new funding will be used to continue growth in existing markets, advance technology, scale operations and improve service to more audiences and geographies. Rocket Internet is pursuing this expansion to establish Easy Taxi’s presence in emerging markets and defend against local competitors. Easy Taxi is a mobile taxi‑hailing app launched by Rocket Internet in 2011 and available on iOS, Android and BlackBerry. The company reports about 2 million downloads and over 60,000 drivers across 15 markets in Latin America, Africa and Asia. It is pursuing expansion into the Middle East and North Africa, beginning a rollout in Saudi Arabia. To support that regional push, iMENA Holding has invested $7 million into the rollout. Previously Easy Taxi received $10 million from Africa Internet Holding in July and $15 million in June through Latin American Internet Holding. Rocket Internet is partnering on the rollout and is using its broader capital and infrastructure strategy to secure footholds in emerging markets. Competition in MENA is described as relatively light, with entrants such as Uber and Careem having launched in Dubai but not yet rolled out to other cities. Easy Taxi offers a mobile app-based service that matches passengers with taxi drivers and lets users and drivers track each other on in-app maps. The app relies on existing licensed taxi fleets rather than building proprietary driver networks, differentiating it from services like Uber. Launched in Brazil in 2011, Easy Taxi now operates in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and other Brazilian cities, plus Salvador, Lima and Venezuela, with outposts in Seoul and Kuala Lumpur and plans for Manila, Hong Kong and Bangkok. The company reports more than 30,000 taxi drivers in its network and almost 1,000,000 app downloads, but does not disclose active-user counts or turnover. Easy Taxi says it will use the new funding to continue building operations in Latin America and to pursue global expansion. It also partners with Payleven to enable mobile payments for drivers and to potentially integrate with Rocket Internet’s broader e-commerce and delivery holdings.

• HelloFresh

  Participated · Series D · Jun 2014

  HelloFresh is a Berlin-based meal delivery startup backed by Rocket Internet. The company offers meal delivery services and has been expanding into North America. It incurred high marketing spend ahead of that launch. Gründerszene reports the company has been making losses this year following that spending. HelloFresh raised €85 million in a recent financing involving a new unnamed investor and prior backer Baillie Gifford. The company was founded in 2012 by CEO Dominik Richter and COO Thomas Griesel. HelloFresh delivers subscription meal kits that provide ingredients and recipes for home-cooked meals without planning or shopping. The company positions itself as offering "wholesome home cooked meals with no planning, no shopping and no waste" and is delivering 4 million meals per month. It operates in seven countries and reported net revenues of €70 million in 2014, representing a 392% annual growth rate. After the latest investment the company was valued at €2.6 billion post-money. Rocket holds a 57.2% ownership stake. Competitors mentioned include Blue Apron, Gousto, Marley Spoon, and Shuttlecook. HelloFresh delivers weekly meal kits that include curated recipes and fresh ingredients in the right quantities, with customers selecting portion counts and recipes. The company operates in Germany, Austria, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Australia and the United States and employs 120 people. It plans to use the newly raised funds to further enhance the customer experience. Founded in November 2011 and based in Berlin and New York City, HelloFresh focuses on convenience and flexibility for home cooks. The recent financing increased the company’s post-money valuation to €623.8m. Backers on the round included existing shareholders Rocket Internet and Insight Venture Partners. HelloFresh is a Germany-based on-demand grocery-delivery service that ships pre-portioned ingredients and step-by-step recipes to customers for quick, 30-minute meals. The company currently sends over 1 million meals per month, with the vast majority going to repeat customers. HelloFresh emphasizes fresh, organic, local ingredients—nothing frozen—and says food arrives at its kitchens each morning from local suppliers and is shipped to customers the same afternoon. It offers flexibility with vegetarian and family options and provides provenance and product information for each ingredient. HelloFresh competes with Blue Apron and Plated and is available in six countries, reaching 75 percent of the United States with recent expansions into several states. Prior to this latest round it had raised a total of $17 million, including a $10M Series B in 2012 and a $7.5M Series C last year. HelloFresh is a Berlin, Germany-based eCommerce service that delivers boxes of portioned ingredients and recipes to customers for home-cooked meals. Customers choose a box containing three to five recipes on the website and HelloFresh delivers the ingredients direct to their homes, with ingredients portioned into exact quantities to simplify cooking. The company was founded in January 2012 by Jessica Nilsson, Thomas Griesel and CEO Dominik Richter. HelloFresh operates in Germany, the United Kingdom (London), the Netherlands (Amsterdam), Australia (Sydney) and the US (New York) and employs approximately 100 people. It has raised $20m to date and intends to use the new funds to continue growth in existing markets and to scale operations in other geographies.

No current team members are available.