Indian startups are all out to woo Bharat. After Snapdeal had announced that it was going to be available in 11 Indic languages amidst much fanfare, it is now the turn on classifieds site Quikr to follow suit. The company has announced that its platform would be available in 7 Indian languages – Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Gujarati and Marathi.
The new features allow consumers to browse, search, post ads, and interact with buyers and sellers in their language of choice. Quikr has used various technologies to also ensure that there is no delay in rendering ads in any of the available languages on the platform.
“With Indian internet expanding beyond air-conditioned offices and homes and into the streets of the country, local languages are definitely the next frontier for us. I strongly believe that language should no longer be a barrier for people seeking to transact online and am super excited about the strong response our verticals such as QuikrC2C and QuikrJobs have already received in local languages,” said Pranay Chulet, founder and CEO, Quikr.
Indian startups have realized that while 30% of Indians have access to the internet, only 10% of the population speaks English. A move to tap into the non-English speaking market is driving companies to make their services available in other languages. The urban metro population being already inundated with choices for most products, startups feel that the Indian hinterland is where their next wave of users will come from.
Quikr is one of the stars of India’s startup ecosystem, being worth more than $1 billion after its last stage of funding.