<article>German startup investor <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://www.rocket-internet.com">Rocket Internet SE</a>, has closed down its mobile classifieds startup Sparklist, that had operations in Pakistan and Philippines, this portal has confirmed.</article>

German startup investor <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://www.rocket-internet.com">Rocket Internet SE</a>, has closed down its mobile classifieds startup Sparklist, that had operations in Pakistan and Philippines, this portal has confirmed.
In an online interview with <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://www.dealstreetasia.com" target="_blank">DEALSTREETASIA</a>, former Sparklist CEO Nalla Karunanithy said Rocket Internet had decided that it will no longer invest in the startup which was rumored to have been closed by the Germany-based Internet platform in April.
&#8220;We have decided to no longer invest in Sparklist. We start our new companies very lean, which allows us to analyze the market environment closely and decide, based on first experiences after launch, whether we see the potential to reach market leadership,&#8221; Karunanithy said.
Karunanithy left Sparklist last February and immediately founded Rocket Internet-led venture, <a style="color: #000080;" href="https://www.bandist.de/" target="_blank">Bandist</a>, an online plattform for musicians who sell their used instruments.
Related: <a style="color: #ff0000;" href="http://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/rocket-internet-takes-classifieds-mobile-app-sparklist-philippines-26834/" target="_blank">Rocket Internet takes classifieds mobile app Sparklist to Philippines</a>
He first announced the launch of Sparklist in Pakistan last November, and later went live with its classifieds mobile app in the Philippines last January.
The mobile app had a total of 55,000 online buyers and sellers in Pakistan last January and around 10,000 based in the Philippines in the same period.
The Sparklist app was designed to create a secure, simple and easy environment to buy and sell without compromising privacy. Sellers list their products by snapping a photo with their smartphone and directly posting it, with category, price and description.
Sparklist&#8217;s website as well as its mobile app are now no longer available.
Related: <a style="color: #ff0000;" href="http://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/rocket-internet-launches-mobile-classifieds-platform-for-used-goods-sparklist-in-pakistan-18952/" target="_blank">Rocket Internet launches Sparklist, mobile classifieds platform for used goods in Pakistan</a>
&#8220;The learnings provided by the presence in Pakistan and Philippines have shown that the technology created for the Sparklist app could be better applied to use in other ventures within the Rocket network, which is now in motion,&#8221; Karunanithy added.
Rocket Internet announced last September that it has adopted a one-venture-per-quarter aggressive plan to build scalable e-commerce platforms and marketplaces in the fast-growing Asia Pacific region.
This is not the Rocket Internet-led venture in Asia that has been shutdown, and some of the other companies that have witnessed a similar fate include the operations of EasyTaxi across Asia, and carpooling app Tripda.
Earlier this month, this portal had <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/zalora-completes-selling-thai-vietnam-ops-to-central-group-and-vietnamese-affiliate-40880/" target="_blank">reported</a> that Rocket Internet’s fashion e-commerce venture ZALORA has sold its business in Thailand to Central Group and the unit in Vietnam to Nguyen Kim Trading JSC, in which Central Group has a 49 per cent interest. With this transaction, the German venture builder has terminated its presence in the Vietnam market, after selling a spate of other businesses, including Foodpanda to local rival Vietnammm and Lazada to China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba, and pulling hailing app EasyTaxi off the country.
The sale had come despite, Rocket Internet’s ‘Global Fashion Group’ –  the holding company that comprises brands such as Lamoda, Zalora and Jabong – having recently raised €300 million ($339 million) from Rocket and other exiting shareholders. But the new round only valued the company at €1 billion, which is about a third of the valuation it had less than a year ago, when it raised €150 million.
Besides, Rocket’s Jabong business in India, considered the next big market after China, has been up for sale for months but not finding buyers even after its valuation was dragged down by a tenth in just a year.
Dealstreetasia had sent detailed queries to Rocket Internet&#8217;s investor relations group as well as its global communications manager, but the questions remained unanswered at the time this article went to print.
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German startup investor Rocket Internet SE, has closed down its mobile classifieds startup Sparklist, that had operations in Pakistan and Philippines 

Exclusive: Sparklist's former CEO confirms startup's closure by Rocket Internet

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