China Excluded From Rocket Internet's Asian Expansion

18 September 2015. Rocket Internet has pledged to create a new business every three months in Asia, but is purposefully avoiding China. Rocket Internet is famous for helping to launch internet-related companies in new markets based on proven business models. On its website it states that its aims is to become the biggest internet platform outside of China and America, choosing to focus on markets where it can have an advantage and which have fewer barriers to entry. It has typically struggled in Asia, having previously seen failures when attempting to launch an online discounts start-up in China and a taxi-hailing start-up in Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Rocket Internet's fresh push into Asia comes as smartphone penetration rises in Asia and as it enters into a partnership with the Qatari telecoms company Ooredoo. Ooredoo is currently building mobile networks in Indonesia, the Philippines, Myanmar and Pakistan, and Rocket Internet aims to develop ecommerce apps for these regions to encourage people to use the networks. 

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