Africa Internet Group (AIG), the parent of Jumia, an e-commerce platform in Africa, has secured more than €300m in funding from new and existing investors, including the previously announced funding commitment from AXA.

This new round of investment is led by existing investors including MTN and Rocket Internet as well as a new investor, Goldman Sachs.

Jules Frebault of Special Situations Group at Goldman Sachs, said: "We are impressed by AIG’s pan-African operations and execution capabilities, and believe the combination of strategic partners and management’s demonstrated expertise uniquely position the company's ecosystem to play a leading role in the development of Africa’s online economy."

The funds will significantly strengthen the balance sheet of AIG enabling the company to leverage the significant growth of Jumia and to capitalize on the significant opportunities in Africa.

“This investment is a recognition of the success that Jumia has already achieved and provides us with a strategic flexibility to further support our efforts to offer the best shopping experience to our customers,” said Sacha Poignonnec and Jeremy Hodara, Founders and co-CEOs of Jumia and AIG.

“We are delighted to welcome AXA and Goldman Sachs as new investors and are also grateful for the continued confidence from our existing shareholders. To us, it is a recognition of the quality of our operations across the African continent and an affirmation of the significant growth potential of Jumia,” they added.

Jumia intends to use the funds to support its continued growth, and to execute on attractive development opportunities in Africa along with AIG’s other e-commerce platforms.

“We have been extremely encouraged by our partnership with the Jumia team, who have built the business into one of the leading e-commerce platforms in Africa”, said Herman Singh, MTN Group CEO.

“We believe that Jumia strongly reinforces our digital offering and we will continue to support the company with our knowledge of the market,” he said.

Oliver Samwer, CEO of Rocket Internet, added: "From the very first investment in Jumia, we have been consistently impressed by both the high-quality management team and growth trajectory. We believe that Jumia is a proven winner and that it will continue to be the leading e-commerce platform in Africa.”

Jumia, AIG’s main subsidiary, currently present in 11 African markets, provides the platform for local African businesses to sell products to the fast-growing base of African consumers in particular to the rapidly emerging middle class.

Other activities of AIG include Kaymu, an online shopping community, as well as marketplaces in food delivery (Hellofood), travel (Jovago) and classifieds operations in real estate (Lamudi), jobs (Everjobs) and cars (Carmudi).