Buy-sell platform Quikr raises Rs548 cr from top-line investors

Quikr, the Mumbai-based online and mobile classifieds player, has raised $90 million (Rs548 crore) from several big-ticket investors led by Swedish private equity fund Kinnevik.

According to media reports, the other big investors who have funded the Quickr expansion plans are private equity firm Warburg Pincus, Norwest Venture Partners, E-bay and Nokia Growth Partners.

Last month, Ebay Inc led a $134-million investment in online marketplace Snapdeal, even as domestic online retailers such as Flipkart, Myntra, Jabong collectively raised more than $600 million in the past nine months.

The five-year-old company, founded by Pranay Chulet, educated in some of India's premier technology and management institutions, has so far raised $150 million in funds.

Quikr claims to have 30 million unique monthly users across 1,000 cities and towns in India, with 12 million listings through its mobile and online platforms, and according to The Economic Times is being valued at about $250 million.

Based on the concept of the American classifieds giant Craigslist, Quikr registers listings for categories like jobs, automobiles, used goods, services and electronics.

Chulet told the Times of India that the investment will be used to continue to build the business. "We should be able to cross 100 million unique users in about three to four years," he said.

Quikr has other investors including Matrix Partners India and Omidyar Network. Quikr was formerly known as Kijiji.in, an E-bay-owned platform.

"We are excited about Kinnevik joining us in our journey as we build the business from here on. We liked their experience in the classifieds space," Chulet told TOI.