Watch: How microservices are powering Quikr’s diversified portfolio

Starting out as a simple online classifieds marketplace in 2008, Quikr has now evolved into a go-to platform for several services. The company now has multiple websites focused on jobs, vehicles, real estate and finance. 

The online marketplace has so far raised close to $441 million from Tiger Global Management, Norwest  Venture Partners, NGP Capital and ecommerce company eBay. Its most recent funding was in July when the company raised a debt funding round from Trifecta Capital for $2.8 million. 

In a talk with TechCircle, Prasun Mandal, head of technology and analytics at Quikr, spoke on how the company was able to move to different verticals through the use of application programming interface (API) and microservices. 

Mandal also discussed how the analytics engine was built from the ground up and now has a repository of data that can be used by artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) algorithms to accurately predict and suggest right recommendations for uses in both online and offline channels. 

The company claims to have close to 30 million unique visitors in India and has a presence in over 1,200 cities. Quikr has also built a few physical stores to better cater to the market. 

Media reports have also suggested that the company was planning to go public in 2021. 

The company has been on an acquisition spree to strengthen its hold in a few of its prominent verticals. For its real estate wing, Quikr had acquired HDFC real estate firms, HDFC Red and HDFC Realty, in December 2017. Earlier, it had acquired CommonFloor for about $120 million in 2015.