The FabFurnish sale isn’t going to end Rocket’s nightmare in India yet

For months now, Rocket Internet has been having it tough in India.

The Berlin-based incubator, which has been looking for an out on its investments for days now, finally seems to have gotten a break with the sale of FabFurnish.

Companies like Jabong and Foodpanda in its once-celebrated portfolio have lost out to rivals due to various reasons, some self-created and some not.

Rocket was outplayed in India. Rival investments did better.

None of its investments have come up tops in the country – Jabong got edged out by Myntra and then others like Amazon and Flipkart investing in the fashion category, Foodpanda lost share to rivals and suffered from mismanagement, and FabFurnish has been a by-word in the online furniture sector where companies like Urban Ladder and Pepperfry have taken top spot.

While Foodpanda has maintained there is no trouble in their universe, media reports have said the company has struggled to find takers for even valuations as low as US$10 million.

Saurabh Kochhar, CEO of Foodpanda India said in a statement that the company has no plans to exit the Indian market.

“We are extremely happy with the development of our business in India. Whenever we have felt the need for investments we have invested and we will continue to do so,” he said in an emailed statement.

“Rocket was just outplayed in India. Rival investments did better, and the companies ran into trouble. Now they want to cut their losses,” said an investor who has bet on competitors to some Rocket investments. He did not want to be named.

“It seemed to have a policy of increasing market share with heavy discounts, but the market is slowly moving away from that,” he added.

On Wednesday, Rocket managed to sell FabFurnish, one of its portfolio companies, to Future Group, one of India’s biggest retail houses.