Quikr Almost Doubles Revenue In FY18, Says Will Breakeven By Next Year

Bengaluru-based online classifieds and services portal Quikr India Pvt Ltd reported a consolidated revenue of $24.54 Mn (INR 173.49 Cr) for the year ending March 2018, a jump of 95% from its revenue from operations in the previous year.

According to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs filings accessed by Inc42, the standalone performance for the company showed a net loss of $27.87 Mn (INR 197 Cr), down 37.7% from a loss of $44.79 Mn (INR 316.58 Cr) in the previous year.

Some other key statistics for the fiscal 2017-18 include:

• The company’s revenue from operations grew to $21.48 Mn (INR 151.87 Cr), a jump of 82.16% from $11.67 Mn (INR 83.16 Cr) in the previous year
• The company earned $3.75 Mn (INR 26.53 Cr) from lead generation
• Employee benefit expense for the company fell 14% reaching $28.11 Mn (INR 198.72 Cr) from $32.76 Mn (INR 231.58 Cr) in the previous year

In the filings, the company said, “Your Directors are continuously looking for avenues and opportunities in the market for the future growth of the company.”

They further said that the company will continue to work towards its revenues aggressively and minimise the losses. Further, the company said it will achieve breakeven in a year’s time

Founded by Pranay Chulet in 2008, Quikr claims to have a user base of over 30 Mn per month. It is present in 1,000 cities in India and operates across 14 classifieds businesses including mobile phones, household goods, cars, real estate, jobs, services and education.

The filings also showed that the consolidated loss for the year was $33Mn (INR 233.28 Cr). Some of the key performance indicators for Quikr and its acquisitions include:

• Advertising Revenue was $6.89 Mn (INR 48.71 Cr)
• Income from lead generation for the year was $3.75 Mn (INR 26.53 Cr)
• Marketing Service Fee reaped in $8.99 Mn (INR 63.61 Cr)

In a media statement, the company said that it has continued the same growth momentum in the Q1 and Q2 of FY18-19 and is projecting to double its revenues in FY18-19 to about $49.5 Mn (INR 350 Cr), with the annualised run rate for Q4 being in the $70.7 Mn (INR 500 Cr) range.

Commenting on the financial performance, Pranay Chulet, Founder and CEO of Quikr said, “By verticalizing our business and offering consumers completed transactions in these large categories, we’ve unlocked the true potential of our platform. Our combined addressable market accounts for 1/5th of the country’s GDP, and we can see this level of growth continuing for several years.”

The company was reportedly looking to raise between $100 Mn and $150 Mn by keeping its record valuation of $1 Bn.

Till date, the company has almost raised around $430 Mn in over 10 rounds of funding, with the last round valuing the company at $1.47 Bn. The company’s investors include Warburg Pincus, Tiger Global, Norwest Venture Partners Brand Capital and Omidyar Networks.

Rahul Tewari, CFO at Quikr said, “The operating metrics in each of our verticals have been strengthening consistently. Unlike what often happens, this 95% revenue growth has been achieved with higher margins and lower cost of customer acquisition.”

Quikr’s Acquisitions Payoff

Acquisitions constitute up to 55% of Quikr’s overall revenue and the company has acquired 13 startups including Babajob, Hiree, HDFC Developers, ZapLuk, Zimmber, Reality Compass till date. Currently, the acquired startups account for up to 55% of Quikr’s overall revenue.

On the acquisitions front, the company said the acquisitions have delivered strong results for the company. By combining the models of acquired companies with its large supply-and-demand base, Quikr has been able to substantially grow their revenue.

• Quikr continues to operate Commonfloor and AtHomeDiva as independent brands in the market
• Losses of these acquired companies have been absorbed by Quikr and many of them are also profitable at a business level now
• Scaling of Commonfloor, Grabhouse and acquired beauty businesses are good examples of this

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