Zalora, a Singapore fashion online retailer backed by Rocket Internet, has received US$26 million investment from German retail company Tengelmann.

“We are confident that this is a synergistic and promising partnership given both our strengths in retail and the tremendous potential of the e-commerce market in Asia,” said Tengelmann CEO Christian Winter.

“Zalora’s success in the market, growth trajectory, management team and investor base speak volumes about how the company is fast becoming the undisputed leader for online fashion and beauty retail in many countries,” added Winter.

Zalora, established in early 2012, operates in Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and the Philippines.

Six months ago, Zalora also secured an undisclosed amount from JP Morgan Asset Management.

Zalora says it has started building a software development centre in Singapore to develop platforms and mobile apps.

“Our chief product officer had shared that Zalora chose Singapore over seven other lower-cost Zalora countries for the talent pool in Singapore – two top universities with excellent Computer Science departments, and fresh talent from the polytechnics. We have been and still are actively recruiting locally to build the Zalora platform/webshop as well as the upcoming apps,” said a representative from Zalora.

Tengelmann has been investing in Rocket Internet companies. It also pumped US$20 million into online department store Lazada.