Southeast Asia’s online department store Lazada has raised a new round of funding worth US$100 million from Europe.

Part of the new fund has been invested by Belgian company Verlinvest.

Launched by Berlin-based company Rocket Internet in Singapore, Lazada has already received investments from JP Morgan, Kinnevik, Summit Partners and Tengelmann.

The online retailer which dubs itself as ‘Amazon of Asia’ operates in countries including Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines.

According to CEO Maximilian Bittner, the increasing use of smartphones which draws buyers to shop more online is driving growth for Lazada.

“What strongly plays in our favour is the arrival of smartphones – so we are basically leapfrogging technology here,” he said.

Last year’s e-commerse sales in Southeast Asia stood at US$6 billion, far lower than the US$100 billion sales in China. However, with the increasing online payment options, e-commerce in the region is expected to grow more.