Summit Partners invest 20 million euros in Zando

After securing more than 10 million dollars from JP Morgan Asset Management in September, e-tailer Zando has just announced a new investment: 20 million euros from Summit Partners. Much of the cash will reportedly flow to the South African arm of the

company.

“We seek to invest in companies that build long-term value, and Zando has shown dynamic growth in a short period of time,” summed up Scott Collins, a Managing Director and head of the Summit Partners London office.

In September, the German parent company secured an investment from JP Morgan Asset Management worth more than 10 million dollars, though the exact figure has not been disclosed.

Manuel Koser, managing director and co-founder, said Zando is excited to be joined by an investor that shares its vision and belief in the huge potential for the South African market. “With the ubiquitous convergence of technologies, feature phones, smartphones, tablets and desktops with dedicated connectivity, internet accessibility is maturing,” said Koser in an official statement.

Zando MD and co-founder Manuel Koser has told ‘TechCentral’ in an interview that the investment is a “great vote of confidence for the South African e-commerce market and for the business we’ve built over the last 10 months”. Koser says the investment will help the company grow its operation and streamline its processes. “Our business model is cash heavy as we hold inventory for everything we carry on the website,” he says. “We’re like a physical retailer in that sense, it’s just that online is our only sales channel.”

Zando was launched in January and initially sold only footwear before expanding into clothing, accessories and cosmetics. Some of the investment will be used to enlarge Zando’s warehousing capabilities and Koser says it will also be used to optimise the service’s back-end infrastructure.