Germany’s Rocket Internet is aiming to shake up the self-storage market by expanding to Paris to take advantage of the French capital’s notoriously small apartments.
SpaceWays, backed by Rocket Internet, plans to offer the same home pickup and delivery service, booked online, that’s already available in London. The company launched its first site in Britain in July. Co-founder Rob Rebholz says SpaceWays wants to create the equivalent of data cloud-storage services, but for physical objects.
The Berlin-based company is one of dozens of start-ups backed by Germany’s Rocket Internet, which has announced it is planning a public stock offering later this year. The company said it aims to raise 750 million euros ($968 million) with a flotation “intended to take place later in 2014,” giving no specific date.
“Taking our company public is the next step in our journey to build the world’s leading Internet platform outside of the United States and China,” said Rocket founder and chief executive Oliver Samwer.Rocket said it would provide financial details on its business as it moves toward the stock listing. So far, Rocket has relied heavily on venture capital to fund the rapid expansion of its businesses, many of which are just a year or two old.
Rocket typically provides seed funding, technical and logistical support in return for an equity stake. The start-ups are expected to operate independently after several months.
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