Classifieds portal Quikr gets $60M in fresh ammunition to take on OLX

Though less than one fifth of India’s 1.3 billion people are online, the country already ranks number three globally in terms of the aggregate number of internet users. So it’s not surprising that investors are pumping money into technology startups in India. Just five months after Quikr, a cross-category classifieds portal, announced a US$90 million funding round, it has now secured another US$60 million. The latest round is led by US investor Tiger Global Management LLC.

Quikr lists a wide range of classifieds in around ten categories, including mobile phones, household goods, cars, real estate, jobs, services, and education opportunities. Launched in 2008, Quikr claims to be “India’s no.1 online classifieds platform” with over 30 million unique users a month across 940 Indian cities.

Its current investors Warburg Pincus, Kinnevik, Matrix Partners India, Norwest Venture Partners, Nokia Growth Partners, Omidyar Network, and eBay Inc have each participated in the latest round which, according to a company statement, will be used to boost product development and expand its mobile business.

Quikr’s main competitor is OLX from Argentina, whom Morgan Stanley called the “undisputed leader in India” in a 2013 report. The company recently announced its expansion in eleven countries across Southeast Asia and Europe. Like Quikr, OLX too has big backers. Cape Town-based media company Naspers, which famously owns a major stake in China’s Tencent, acquired a majority stake in OLX in 2010.

Tiger Global, the new investor in Quikr, has a star-studded portfolio, including biggies from the West like SurveyMonkey, Facebook, and Linkedin, as well as Indian startup heroes like Flipkart, MakeMyTrip, and Justdial. So, Tiger Global coming on board as an investor will definitely improve the odds for Quikr in its battle with OLX.

See: How online classifieds are on the verge of a shake-up in Southeast Asia