SUMMARY
The Online Classifieds Portal Has Been On An Acquisition Spree Over The Last Few Years
Online classifieds platform Quikr reported a 55% increase in turnover to $10 Mn (INR 63.8 Cr) in FY17. As per its filings with the Registrar of Companies, the Tiger Global-backed company had clocked a turnover of $6.4 Mn (INR 41.2 Cr) in the fiscal year ending in March 2016.
The growth in turnover has been, in part, due to the series of acquisitions that Quikr made in 2017 across real estate, hyperlocal services, online job search and other segments. Currently, the acquired startups account for up to 55% of Quikr’s overall revenues.
The company’s upward growth trajectory is in line with its aim to hit profitability by FY19.
Attributing the increase in turnover to the company’s robust inorganic strategy, a spokesperson for Quikr told ET, “Our revenue trajectory has validated that the verticalization strategy is working well and we are seeing strong acceleration in business fundamentals including revenue. We did many of our acquisitions with the belief that those businesses could scale more effectively and efficiently by integrating with our strong brand and large consumer base, and that strategy has played out pretty well.”
As stated by the spokesperson, over the last one year or so, the online classifieds portal has deliberately made a shift towards a more transaction-based revenue model, be it in real estate, C2C business through Quikr Bazaar or auto services.
This has, in turn, bolstered Quikr’s balance sheet, the spokesperson added. For FY18, the Bengaluru-headquartered online classifieds firm is working to further increase its revenue growth by expanding both its light stack listings model and the transaction model.
At present, a major chunk of the firm’s revenues, around 30% to be exact, is contributed by its real estate business. In this segment, the Pranay Chulet-led company is planning to extend beyond listings by the end of this year.
How Quikr Is Driving Growth Through Acquisitions
Founded by Pranay Chulet and Jiby Thomas 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. Till date, Quikr has received $350 Mn from investors like Kinnevik, Tiger Global Management, Matrix Partners India and Warburg Pincus.
Since its launch as a classified portal, Quikr has extended its verticals slowly and steadily in domains such as home rental, beauty services as well as online recruitment. In 2016, Quikr acquired Grabhouse, Stepni, ZapLuk, Salosa, StayGlad, and Hiree. Later in October of the same year, the company got a 13% hike in its valuation from one of its investors, Swedish firm Kinnevik AB.
In May 2017, Quikr announced the acquisition of on-demand home services startup Zimmber, as part of an all-stock deal valued at about $10 Mn. The acquisition was aimed at accelerating Quikr’s growth in household services sector. A month later, in June, it acquired blue collar jobs startup Babajob Services to strengthen its position in the blue collar jobs segment.
Most recently, in December, the online classifieds platform bought two subsidiaries of mortgage lender Housing Development Finance Corp. Ltd (HDFC) focusing on real estate brokerage and online property, namely HDFC Realty Ltd and HDFC Developers Ltd for a total of $54.8 Mn (INR 350 Cr).
This marked the second-biggest acquisition yet by Quikr in the online real estate after it acquired online realty portal CommonFloor in a stock-and-cash deal for $200 Mn in January 2016.
In November 2017, it was also reported that Quikr would soon be rolling out an on-demand grocery and food delivery service. Quikr plans to make this foray by partnering with neighbourhood stores and restaurants from where customers can order products ranging from grocery to food items. In the same month, the company floated a pilot of its hyperlocal fulfillment service in Bengaluru under QuikrEasy.
Incidentally, Quikr’s biggest rival, Naspers-backed Olx, also reported a 58% jump in revenues to $14.5 Mn (INR 92.5 Cr) in FY17, while its profits surged by 31% to $1.2 Mn (INR 8 Cr). Unlike Quikr, however, services to global markets accounted for over 82% of Olx’s business in the last fiscal.
While Quikr has been on a winning streak for some time now, how it fares in the current fiscal year remains to be seen.
