Online classifieds platform Quikr has acquired Sequoia-backed refurbished goods marketplace Zefo to scale up its pre-owned goods business. This is as a report in the Economic Times.
It was reported around 11th of March that Quikr has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Zefo for Rs 200 crore in an all-stock deal.
The company said this acquisition is in line with its overall strategy of going deeper in key verticals, however it didn’t disclose the deal size or the terms of the acquisition.
“With Quikr and Zefo as a combined entity, we will be able to offer a broader selection of products at even more competitive prices along with as strong a focus on quality. Generally, a pre-owned product’s price can be as low as 30-60% of a new one” said Pranay Chulet, Founder & CEO, Quikr.
Quikr had launched Quikr Assured products and services around the second half of last year, offering pre-owned products across several categories such as furniture, electronics, and appliances. It had also recently opened franchised stores in Karnataka and Telangana. The company claims this business grew by 230% year-on-year in the recently concluded FY18-19 and it has became Quikr’s fourth vertical to turn cash flow positive.
Sarath Chandra Gudlavalleti, vice-president, QuikrBazaar said they will now double the company’s strength in the quality assurance process, logistics, marketing, and retail, especially for refurbished products in the furniture, electronics & appliances and mobile categories.
Zefo co-founder and CEO Rohit Ramasubramanian added that this acquisition will enable them to provide their offerings and capabilities to Quikr’s large customer base.
Source: Linkedin
Founded in 2015 by Arjit Gupta, Himesh Joshi, Karan Gupta, Rohit Ramasubramanian, Zefo was among the few bigger players in the second-hand refurbished products market. It specialized in quality check, repair, and refurbishment for product categories such as televisions, mobile phones, and furniture and claimed to offer more than 10,000 products across these categories in four cities.
It had raised close to $20 million from investors like Sequoia Capital, Helion Venture Partners, among others.
In August last year, Walmart-backed e-commerce giant Flipkart had launched its own platform for refurbished goods called 2GUD. The platform currently focuses primarily on the refurbished smartphone and laptop segment, but it had said it would expand into the refurbished appliances and furniture market in the future.
Quikr has till date raised $370 million from Tiger Global Management, Steadview Capital, Norwest Venture Partners,Warburg Pincus, and Matrix Partners .