Why This Startup is 'Quikr' Than Others in Its Sector Chulet has transformed one of the largest classifieds platforms in India – Quikr into country's own Craigslist, which dominated the classifieds revenue of newspapers in the US in mid 2000s
By Sandeep Soni
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PRANAY CHULET (44), FOUNDER AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, QUIKR
From being Kijiji India - the eBay subsidiary that spun off as Quikr in 2008 to turning unicorn in 2015 to becoming an aggressive buyer to fuel its inorganic growth, Chulet has transformed one of the largest classifieds platforms in India - Quikr into country's own Craigslist, which dominated the classifieds revenue of newspapers in the US in mid 2000s. The technology disruption in the last decade has let Chulet to adopt verticalization of its major offerings as separate boats under the Quikr mothership. "We will continue to look for good assets that come at a fair price and marry the capabilities of acquired companies with the large consumer demand that comes to Quikr. It has helped us scale these businesses much faster than they would have done alone as standalone entities," he says.
Thanks to tremendous consumer data that Quikr was able to generate before its vertical expansion. "Data has helped us bridge the gap between proverbial Bharat and India. So the strategy is to build marketplaces targeting the largest unorganized sectors of Indian economy," he says. Doorstep facility for customer-to-customer transactions, missed call for posting ads, the chat facility, diagnostic app for mobile phones, street vision and live feeds for its home vertical, etc., are some local innovations by Quikr for classifieds customers. For each of its categories, Chulet has been investing in technology such as machine learning, artificial intelligence, image and voice recognition to enhance user experience and category prediction.
Growing rapidly on the quantity side with five verticals, the risk of losing sight on quality has always concerned Chulet. This has existed in the business from early days. However, there is no magic pill to ensure that you don't go off track. "You just have to make sure you don't get intoxicated with your success and keep learning how to get better. Hubris is a trait that was never allowed entry into the Quikr campus."
CLASSIFIED RISE
LAUNCH:November 2008
BUSINESSES: QuikrBazaar, QuikrCars, QuikrEasy, QuikrHomes & QuikrJobs
HEADCOUNT: 2,500
TOTAL INVESTMENT: $350m USERS 30 million per month
USERS: 30 million per month
COMPOUND ANNUAL REVENUE GROWTH RATE:100% in last 4 years
