Quikr attracts US$ 32 million private equity investment

Posted by Rohan Khara

Warburg Pincus leads the round with participation from Matrix, Norwest and eBay

Quikr, the internet and mobile based classifieds leader, today announced that its parent company has attracted an investment of US$32 million led by Warburg Pincus, a leading global private equity firm focused on growth investing. Existing investors Matrix Partners India, Norwest Venture Partners and eBay Inc. also participated in this round of fund raising, which is the fifth and the largest round of capital raised.

Quikr is India’s largest horizontal classifieds platform with 17 million unique individuals and small businesses using it across 83 cities every month. These individuals and businesses access Quikr to sell, buy, rent or find products and services in a variety of categories such as electronics, cars, bikes, real estate, services, jobs, education and entertainment. Existing investors include Nokia Growth Partners and Omidyar Network, apart from those mentioned above.

Commenting on the development, Pranay Chulet, Co-Founder and CEO,  Quikr said, “In the initial rounds of fund raising, we have already attracted some of the best investors across the globe. We are delighted to have a strategic partner like Warburg Pincus as we continue our journey forward. The current round, which is our largest to date, will enable us to diversify our offerings across both online and mobile platforms, intensify our product development efforts and further strengthen our marketing capabilities.”

Nitin Nayar, Managing Director, Warburg Pincus India Private Limited said, “We were impressed by the dynamism and the vision of Quikr's management team to further build on Quikr's leadership position as an innovative online marketplace. Globally, Warburg Pincus has been a leading investor in the technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) sectors for more than 25 years. We look forward to working closely with the management team to build on the company’s success and accelerate its growth plans.”

The next decade is poised to present tremendous growth opportunities in the internet sector in India, supported by a growing number of internet users, increasing income levels and a young population. As a dominant player that’s initiating mass market India into e-commerce through its easy to use classifieds format, Quikr is well positioned to capture a large share of this opportunity.