Online classifieds service provider Quikr has thrown open it’s API documentation for developers to build applications based on Quikr.
Quikr Dvlpr, as the project will be known, will allow developers to access the online classified major’s buyer/seller flow, listings by categories and/or cities as well as replies to these listings. Interested parties will also be able to deploy the company’s instant messaging and search functionalities, which was launched in January this year.
While we are verticalizing our own business in the largest markets such as cars, jobs, real estate and services, this move provides us another very scalable way to continue to innovate for India. We have built our large platform on the foundation of robust technology, and firmly believe that we can further unlock the potential of our platform by partnering with India’s developers,
said Pranay Chulet, founder & CEO of Quikr in a statement.
Quikr, which claims to be India’s largest online classified space player, has a whopping 30 million unique users every month and 250,000 listings on the platform every day. Quikr received $150mn in investment from Steadview Capital and existing investors in April this year. It’s current valuation is pegged at Rs. 5,700 crore.
The question of whether a company should open up its API has always been a debatable one. Tech press and enthusiastic geeks are thrilled whenever a new API is announced – and tech-savvy marketers circle anything that smells like it could be a big Platform. Success stories are reflected by Google Maps and Twitter.
This kind of development will help Quikr extend then own applications with relatively little of the work being done in-house and can give them access to whole new markets. I strongly feel for Quikr Dvlpr to be worthwhile, there has to be a win in terms of time savings or product capability.
