Quikr, India’s No. 1 cross category classifieds business, announced that it has raised $150 million (more than Rs. 900 crores) in a financing round that included significant investment by its existing investors, including Tiger Global Management (“Tiger Global”) and Investment AB Kinnevik (“Kinnevik”), as well as first time investor, Hong Kong based Steadview Capital. This fresh round of funding will be used to further invest in Quikr’s fast growing mobile business and in key categories where the company already has leadership positions, including goods, cars, real estate, jobs and services.
“We’ve undertaken this transaction to further consolidate our leadership in the Indian classifieds market. Our strategy of innovating for the local market has played out really well and we intend to continue to do that as we go forward.” said Pranay Chulet, Founder and CEO of Quikr. “The big things for us going forward are to continue to innovate for India, innovate for mobile and go deeper in key categories where we already are leaders.”
Avendus Capital Pvt. Ltd. was the financial advisor for this transaction.
Quikr is the largest classifieds business in India with more than 30 million monthly consumers and small business users across 1000 cities. The company is focused on delivering the best possible classifieds experience to the Indian consumer, and has brought out a series of innovations to adapt the conventional classifieds model to the needs of the local consumers.
“Quikr has built its market-leading position by steadily innovating new features, such as messaging, which are rooted in its deep understanding of India as a market and mobile as a medium. We are excited to be a part of this growth story, which offers millions of Indians an easy way to transact with one another across a large number of categories,” said Lee Fixel, Partner, Tiger Global.
“We are delighted to support Quikr’s continued focus on user engagement and service differentiation. This funding round ensures the company is materially capitalised and lays the platform for the company to extend its leadership position through execution”, commented Chris Bischoff of Kinnevik. After this round of funding, Quikr is the largest classifieds investment around the world for Kinnevik, a seasoned global classifieds investor.
About Quikr
Quikr is India’s leading cross-category classifieds platform that is used by over 30 million unique users a month. It is present in 1000 cities in India and operates in over 10 categories that include mobile phones, household goods, cars, real estate, jobs, services and education. Quikr operates across desktop, laptop and mobile phones, and allows consumers as well as small businesses to sell, buy, rent and find things across its multiple categories with great ease. Quikr’s investors include Warburg Pincus, Kinnevik, Tiger Global Management, Matrix Partners India, Norwest Venture Partners, Nokia Growth Partners, Steadview Capital, Omidyar Network, Ebay Inc.
Visit www.quikr.com for more details.
About Kinnevik
Kinnevik is an entrepreneurial investment group focused on building digital consumer brands in four sectors: Communication, E-commerce & Marketplaces, Entertainment, and Financial Services. We work in partnership with talented founders and managers to create, invest in and lead fast growing digital businesses both in developed and developing countries. Kinnevik was founded in 1936 by the Stenbeck, Klingspor and von Horn families. Kinnevik's shares are listed on Nasdaq OMX Stockholm's list for large cap companies under the ticker codes KINV A and KINV B.
About Tiger Global Management
Tiger Global is a fundamentally oriented, global investment firm. The Firm deploys capital in private equity partnerships and public equity funds. Tiger Global’s private equity partnerships have ten-year investment horizons and invest in growth companies in the global Internet and technology sectors. Tiger Global’s private investments have included Flipkart, SurveyMonkey, Warby Parker, Yandex, Facebook, Linkedin, Jingdong, Despegar, Mail.ru Group, Ctrip, Makemytrip, Justdial, Netshoes, MercadoLibre, OnDeck, and Eventbrite. The Firm’s public equity funds focus on long-term trends in the technology, telecom, media, retail and consumer sectors. Tiger Global was founded in 2001 and is based in New York.
About Steadview Capital
Steadview is an India-focused investment firm based in Hong Kong. The firm makes concentrated longterm investments in publicly listed and private companies; its private investments have ten-year investment horizons. The firm invests across sectors, with an emphasis on the technology, consumer, high-end manufacturing, and financial services sectors. Steadview’s limited partners include university endowments, pension funds, non-profit foundations, and family offices. It was founded in 2009.
About Avendus Capital
Avendus Capital Pvt. Ltd is a leading financial services firm, which along with its associates, provides customized solutions in the areas of financial advisory, equity capital markets, alternative asset management and wealth management. The firm relies on its extensive track record, in-depth domain understanding and knowledge of the economic and regulatory environment, to offer research based solutions to its clients that include institutional investors, corporations and high net worth individuals/families. In recent years, Avendus Capital Pvt. Ltd. has consistently been ranked among the leading corporate finance advisors in India and has emerged as the advisor of choice for cross-border M&A deals, having closed around 40 cross-border transactions in the past 5 years. Avendus Wealth Management Pvt. Ltd. caters to investment advisory and portfolio management needs of Family offices and Ultra High Net worth Individuals / families, spanning all asset classes. Headquartered in Mumbai, the firm has offices in New Delhi and Bangalore.
Avendus Capital, Inc (US) and Avendus Capital (UK) Pvt. Ltd. located in New York and London respectively are wholly owned subsidiaries of Avendus Capital Pvt. Ltd offering M&A and Private Equity syndication services in the respective regions. Avendus Capital, Inc (US) also provides wealth management services in select jurisdictions in USA.
For more information, please visit www.avendus.com
