Quikr, the India-based, corporate-backed operator of an online classified listings site, confirmed the close of a $150m funding round today.
The round featured alternative asset manager Steadview Capital and existing investors including investment firms Tiger Global Management and Kinnevik. A report in the Wall Street Journal last month stated that the round would be raised at a valuation of about $1bn.
Quikr’s online listings platform covers around 1,000 Indian cities and attracts more than 30 million unique users each month. It will invest the cash in further developing its mobile business and in key sales categories such as goods, cars, real estate, jobs and services.
The round took Quikr’s overall funding to almost $350m. The company raised $90m in a September 2014 series G round featuring Tiger Global, online listings company Ebay, Nokia Growth Partners, the corporate venturing arm of communications technology maker Nokia, Warburg Pincus, Omidyar Network, Kinnevik, Matrix Partners India and Norwest Venture Partners.
Quikr had raised $60m earlier in 2014 from Nokia Growth Partners, Ebay, Kinnevik, Matrix, Omidyar Network, Norwest and Warburg Pincus. Ebay also took part in Quikr’s $32m series E round in 2012 and Nokia in its $8m series D the year before.
Pranay Chulet, Quikr’s chief executive, said: “We have undertaken this transaction to further consolidate our leadership in the Indian classifieds market. Our strategy of innovating for the local market has played out really well and we intend to continue to do that as we go forward.
“The big things for us going forward are to continue to innovate for India, innovate for mobile and go deeper in key categories where we already are leaders.”