We want shoes and fashion, baby – JP Morgan invests in Zalando

US financial firm JP Morgan and Quadrant Capital Advisors are to become the latest investors in fast-growing Internet retail empire Zalando.

Zalando broke the news today, with a brief press release announcing a successful conclusion of talks. The amount invested and terms are undisclosed, though a Zalando spokesperson told VentureVillage both new investors will now hold a stake of about one per cent each.

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JP Morgan Asset Management managing director Robert Cousin noted the company had quickly established itself as a leading online fashion retailer in Europe. “We are impressed with Zalando’s large, growing, and loyal customer base as well as the breadth of products offered on the company’s e-commerce platform.”

Robert Gentz and David Schneider founded Zalando in 2008 in partnership with Berlin-headquartered incubator Rocket Internet. Since then, the online shoes and fashion retailer has grown from its base in Berlin to span 12 European markets, with two more – Poland and Norway – to follow soon. Zalando reported a €510m turnover in 2011 but posted an operating loss that year citing “strong growth and geographical expansion”.

“We’re pleased that we were able to secure such internationally-established investors as JP Morgan Asset Management and Quadrant Capital Advisors,” Zalando managing director Rubin Ritter said, adding that 2012 has been a “very successful” year so far. “We will continue to invest in growth as well as building a solid company.”

Zalando’s investors include Rocket Internet (the main shareholder, at about 45 percent based on April 20 2012 figures), Holtzbrinck Ventures, Tengelmann Ventures, Kinnevik – a major bankroller of Rocket Internet –  and DST Global. Both Kinnevik and DST Global opted to increase their stake in the company by five percent each earlier this year.

In December last year, JP Morgan led a $176m investment round in social commerce platform Living Social and also recently closed a $135 million credit facility for Gogo, a leader in wireless in-flight digital entertainment, in partnership with Morgan Stanley.

This article originally appeared on VentureVillage, one of VentureBeat’s syndication partners.

This story originally appeared on VentureVillage. Copyright 2012