Quikr appoints P D Sundar as head of soon-to-launch separate local services portal

Mumbai-based Quikr India Pvt Ltd, the company that owns and operates classifieds site Quikr.com, has appointed P D Sundar as head of soon to be launched local services portal QuikrServices.

This is the second key hire by the company as it embarks on a new plan to go deep in a set of five domains with separate websites for those verticals.

Last week, it appointed Manish Kumar Sinha, co-founder and former CEO of real estate portal Favista, to head its soon to be launched real estate portal QuikrHomes. Techcircle.in had first reported the development.

Sundar comes with 15 years of experience in the internet industry in India. Prior to joining Quikr, he was head of internet channels and e-commerce at Citibank India, and head of digital business at The Hindu. Previously, he headed the overall India classifieds business at Sulekha across categories such as real estate, cars and bikes and used goods. Sundar is a graduate of IIT Kharagpur and IIM Ahmedabad.

"When we look at the insides of our business, it's evident to us that our own platform's network effect in services is further getting compounded by the macro factors in India," said Sundar.

Founded in 2008 by Chulet and Jiby Thomas (who later quit the firm), Quikr was originally started as Kijiji India. The firm later rebranded to Quikr.

It is present in 1,000 cities in India and operates in over 10 categories that include mobile phones, household goods, cars, real estate, jobs, services and education.

The company is backed by Warburg Pincus, Kinnevik, Tiger Global Management, Matrix Partners India, Norwest Venture Partners, Nokia Growth Partners, Steadview Capital, Omidyar Network, Ebay Inc.

In January, it recently raised $150 million (over Rs 900 crore) from existing investors Tiger Global and Sweden's Kinnevik besides a new investor Steadview Capital Management at $1 billion valuation.

(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)