Phenomen Ventures, a $300 million international venture fund launched last year by Russian businessman Dmitry Falkovich, has invested in Helpling, the online marketplace for household cleaners backed by Germany’s Rocket Internet.
The deal is part of a Series A round of 13.5 million euros ($16.8 million), which has also involved Mangrove Capital, Point Nine Capital and Delivery Hero chairman Lukasz Gadowski.
According to TechCrunch, the original target for this round was around $25 million, and it may be extended in the coming weeks.
Helpling launched its online service to connect households with domestic cleaners in March and has expanded rapidly into 150 cities in seven countries across Europe and, most recently, to Brazil. In Germany, where Helpling operates in 50 cities, most home cleaning work is done for cash, based on informal referrals, outside the reach of tax authorities, noted Reuters.
Phenomen Ventures was founded in 2102 by Dmitry Falkovich, a tech investment veteran who took part in the development of the Mail.ru Group with Yuri Milner. Last year, the fund led a $30 million Series D round for Delivery Hero, a Berlin-based food delivery startup operating globally, and contributed $7 million to a round for Hailo, a London-based mobile taxi booking service.
