Quikr expands to 4 more languages

Quikr, an Indian Unicorn operating in cross category classifieds platform, on Tuesday announced the expansion of its reach by making available its app and website in four more vernacular languages.

In an interaction with Deccan Herald, Quikr India Founder and CEO Pranay Chulet said the expansion of internet and mobile penetration have really changed the business dynamics.

“We are looking at capitalising this opportunity with more vernacular language flavour so that our reach can be expanded exponentially. Right now we are available in seven vernacular languages besides English. This will reach up to 12 soon,” he said. Quikr is pushing a new strategy by prioritising five business segments of automobiles (QuikrCars), real estate (QuikrHomes), jobs (QuikrJobs), services (QuikrServices), and customer-to-customer sales (QuikrC2C).

“We have right now over 30 million unique consumers a month and are present in 1,000 cities. We have 12 focus categories,” he said. As part of its growth strategy, the company on Tuesday opened a new campus near Manyata Tech Park in Bengaluru. “The four acre campus will have a seat strength of 1,300 to 1,400. Right now we have 700 employees in this campus and will hire 400 more by the end of FY 2016,” he said.

Quikr, which raised around $350 million, has decided to give thrust to its startup culture with the incubator programme by opening up its API. “We have already received 250 applications for this programme and will select around 10 firms. They will get access to our client-base by building an app on top of our API. This will later on help to enhance our product capability and enter into a revenue-sharing format,” he said.