Quikr acquires home services startup Zimmber

Online classifieds firm Quikr India Pvt. Ltd has acquired Mumbai-based Rejuvenate Solutions Pvt. Ltd, which runs online home services marketplace Zimmber, for an undisclosed amount.

“Zimmber is a distinct platform with a large user base and multiple service verticals. This deal will help Quikr strengthen its home services vertical and in return give us good synergies internally. Zimmber will continue to function as a separate entity without any changes in its business model,” Amit Kumar, co-founder and COO of Zimmber, told VCCircle.

The acquisition will help scale up Quikr’s hyper-local household services business, the company said in a statement.

“The acquisition allows us to further scale up our deep-stack service capabilities and provide a superior service experience to Quikr users for their high-frequency daily needs, such as plumbing, cleaning, etc. This category perfectly complements our existing marketplace solutions for one-off service needs, such as interior design, packers and movers, etc.” said PD Sundar, head of QuikrServices. He, however, declined to reveal further details about the deal.

Mint, which had first reported the development, pegged the deal value at $10 million (Rs 64.2 crore). The report went on to add that the deal was struck following Zimmber’s failed attempts to raise more funds.

Zimmber had raised a $5 million Series-A round in July 2016 from Omidyar Network, Sherpalo Ventures, Aarin Capital and IDG Ventures India.

According to VCCEdge, the data and research platform of News Corp VCCircle, it had raised over $7 million in external funding.

As part of the transaction Kumar and Siddhartha Srivastava, the chief products officer at Zimmber, will join Quikr’s team, while co-founder and CEO Anubhab Goel will “move on to pursue other interests”, the company said in a statement.

Zimmber, which was founded in 2014, is present in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane, Pune and Delhi/NCR. The company offers services ranging from home cleaning, appliance repair, plumbing, electrical installations and repairs, to home painting, air conditioner, desktop and laptop repair, pest control and car wash, among others. In a company blogpost in March, it had said that it would expand its operations to Bangalore.

This was Quikr’s seventh acquisition since 2016, which includes home rental startup Grabhouse.

Quikr had also acquired vehicle services provider Stepni, beauty and wellness services platforms Stayglad, ZapLuk and Salosa. In January 2016, Quikr’s acquisition of Commonfloor was touted as one of the biggest merger deals in the space.

In 2015-2016, Quikr had posted net loss of Rs 534 crore, from Rs 446 crore in the year-ago period, while its revenue from operations climbed 66% to Rs 41.24 crore from Rs 24.79 crore in the period under consideration. The company’s total revenue rose 44% to Rs 94.5 crore in 2015-16 from Rs 52.5 crore in the previous fiscal year.