Quikr acquires Stayglad

Listings website Quikr India Pvt. Ltd has acquired on demand beauty services provider Stayglad for an undisclosed sum after the start-up failed to attract new investors and ran out of cash. Stayglad, owned by Glow Prime Technologies Pvt. Ltd, was in talks with Accel Partners and Matrix Partners to raise funds but the talks were unsuccessful, prompting the company to scout for a buyer.

This is Quikr third acquisition in the on-demand home beauty services space. In May, Quikr acquired Gurgaon based home beauty services provider Salosa for an undisclosed amount to bolster its presence in the segment. In July, Quikr rebranded Salosa as AtHomeDiva and launched a separate home beauty service under the QuikrServices vertical in August; the company acquired another home beauty service provider Zapluk.

Quikr had earlier committed an investment of Rs250 Crore to strengthen its home services vertical. On demand beauty is one of the fastest growing service categories. Stayglad was founded in May 2015. In June last year, the company raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding from Delhivery, and TracxnLabs. The company went on to raise an undisclosed amount in Series A funding round from Bessemer Venture Partners and former Chief Executive officer at Lakme Lever Pvt. Ltd.

In the home beauty segment, Quikr AtHomeDiva, currently operates in Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Gurgaon and Hyderabad, competes with BigStylist, Belita, VanityCube, MyGlam, and The Home Salon among others. The acquisition is part of Quikr verticalization drive where it is focusing on five key business segments – automobiles, real estate, jobs, services and customer to customer sales.

Quikr India acquires Zapluk

Online classifieds portal Quikr India Pvt. Ltd has acquired on-demand beauty and wellness services provider Zapluk (ZapForce Technologies Pvt. Ltd) for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition of Hyderabad based Zapluk which had raised an undisclosed amount in angel funding from a clutch of investors, comes three months after Quikr India acquired Gurgaon based on demand beauty service provider Salosa.

Quikr India rebranded its home beauty service as AtHomeDiva in July. The acquisition of Zapluk is expected to strengthen Quikr home beauty services, which have now been rolled out to Bengaluru, New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Gurgaon and Hyderabad. The home beauty services are part of QuikrServices, one of the five verticals identified by Quikr last year to grow revenue.

Quikr is focusing on five key business segments – automobiles, real estate, jobs, services and customer to customer sales. It has identified as new sources of revenue and fends off competition from other venture capital backed businesses that have emerged in each of these categories. Zapluk was founded in August 2015. The firm had acquired Chennai based competitor Pamperazi in June this year.

The company has been investing aggressively to build the five verticals it has identified by both acquiring start-ups and making strategic investments, especially in real-estate segment. Quikr has so far raised $346 Million from investors such as Tiger Global Management, Warburg Pincus and Norwest Venture Partners, among others and is currently valued at $1.5 Billion. 

Quikr buys beauty service provider Salosa

Online classified portal Quikr India Pvt. Ltd has acquired on-demand beauty service provider Salosa, owned by Beawel Tech Pvt. Ltd for an undisclosed amount in a move that will help the Tiger Global Management backed company penetrate deeper into the home services segment.

Salosa, founded in September 2015, currently operates in Gurgaon and parts of Delhi with a team of in-house beauticians. The beauty services market is close to $5 Billion in India and growing, which is evident from the increasing number of requests from Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities. On demand beauty service is an important sub-category and Salosa will help bring very real benefits to consumers.

Quikr had earlier committed an investment of INR 250 crore to strengthen its home services vertical. QuikrServices has 250,000 service providers who offer more than 80 services for consumers and has about 100,000 daily customers. Quikr is growing beyond a listing platform to a one-stop shop for used goods by enabling payments on its platform, as well as facilitating logistics.

Quikr is focusing on five key business segments such as automobiles, real estate, jobs, services and customer to customer sales. It has identified a new source of revenue and fends off competition from other revenue capital backed businesses that have emerged in each of these categories. As a classified portal, Quikr has just one rival OLX, which is backed by Naspers Ltd, a South African mass media company.