Kinnevik invests in leading Indian online classified site Quikr
Kinnevik today announces that it led the latest investment round in Quikr Mauritius Holding Pvt Ltd ("Quikr"), which operates the Indian classified platform Quikr.com. Kinnevik invested USD 39.3m in the context of a total raise of USD 90.0m that included participation from Quikr's principal current investors. Quikr's current investors include Matrix Partners, Nokia Growth Partners, Norwest Venture Partners, Omidyar Network, Warburg Pincus and eBay Inc.
Quikr is a leading horizontal classifieds platform in India with more than 30m unique visitors and 100m visits per month. Individuals and businesses access Quikr to sell, buy, rent or find products and services in a variety of categories such as electronics, cars, bikes, real estate, services, jobs, education and entertainment.
The internet market in India is evolving rapidly. The number of internet users is expected to increase from approximately 200m today to over 550m by 2018. Similarly, online retail sales are expected to grow from approximately USD 2bn today to USD 16bn by 2018.
The investment in Quikr builds on Kinnevik's existing investments in high growth e-commerce platforms in India and in the largest classifieds platforms in Russia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Ghana.
"Our strategy is to invest in leading technology-enabled consumer businesses in growth markets by partnering with strong management teams and like-minded co-investors. The investment in Quikr fits squarely with our strategy and we look forward to supporting its growth in the years to come", commented Mia Brunell Livfors, President and CEO of Kinnevik.
For further information, visit www.kinnevik.se or contact:
| Torun Litzén, Director, Investor Relations | Phone +46 (0)8 562 000 83 |
| Chris Bischoff, Group Investment Director | Phone +46 (0)8 562 000 00 |
Investment AB Kinnevik is a leading, long-term oriented, investment company based in Sweden. Kinnevik primarily invests in consumer centric businesses that provide innovative and value-added technology-enabled services. Our main areas of focus are the Communications, e-Commerce, Entertainment and Financial Services sectors. We own significant stakes in over 50 companies that operate in more than 80 countries across five continents, with a particular emphasis on growth markets. The Kinnevik Group employs more than 90 000 people around the world.
Kinnevik actively supports the companies in which it invests and plays an influential role on their respective Boards. Kinnevik was founded in 1936 by three Swedish families who continue to play a leadership role in the ownership of the Company and in the pursuit of its entrepreneurial ventures.
Kinnevik's shares are listed on Nasdaq OMX Stockholm's list for large cap companies under the ticker codes KINV A and KINV B.
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Source: Kinnevik via Globenewswire
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