| Developing the European equivalent of eBay |
In the heydays of the early internet economy, the Samwer Brothers brought the idea of an electronic marketplace to Germany. In early 1999, they founded a company called Alando which followed a similar business model to eBay. Having faith in the idea of e-commerce and the entrepreneurial talent of the three Samwer brothers, Wellington co-led the first investment round which took place immediately after the foundation of the company.
After the launch, Alando outpaced most of its competition in Germany and got the attention of eBay which was expanding its business to Europe at the time. Later the same year, eBay bought Alando, making the company one of THE success stories of the New Economy in Germany. This helped Wellington to transform its WP I fund into one of the most successful VC funds, in the vintage year of 1998.
