Olx India, an online classified platform, has shown a remarkable growth as it posted ₹179 crore in revenue in FY18, increasing by 94% from previous year’s ₹92 crore.
The online classified platform has further increased net profit by 95% to touch ₹15.6 crore in FY18, from ₹8 crore in FY17.
The remarkable growth witnessed by Olx is credited to its used car business, garnering a market share of more than 70% over the last two years, helping it boost its revenues. The category generates around 40% user visits on its platform and contributed about 25% of its overall revenue, in FY17.
Along with the automobile category, another category that contributed to the boost in Olx India’s growth was smartphones. Compared to last year, pre-owned smartphones sales saw a growth of 40% in FY18, over the sales in FY17.
In FY18, the number of mobile phones and accessories listed on Olx’s platform stood at 14 million. The platform also saw monthly smartphone queries double from 10 million in FY17 to 20 million in FY18.
As Olx boosts its new automobile operations, its expenses rose by nearly 93% to touch ₹155.2 crore in FY18, from ₹80.25 crore in FY17. The platform saw employee benefit costs nearly double to ₹104 crore, while advertising expenses grew by 60%, to reach ₹1.8 crore.
Olx has a presence across more than 40 countries, enabling around 330 million monthly users across the globe to buy and sell products across categories like properties, used cars, furniture, mobiles, bikes, and fashion apparel.
In India, Olx has a presence in more than 4,000 cities, catering to around 40 million users every month.
Olx is backed by some of the most notable institutional investors across the globe like Naspers, Peter Thiel‘s Founders Fund, Nexus Venture Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, and General Catalyst.