Ukrainian company Jiji has acquired Bikroy, Bangladesh’s largest marketplace
14 May 13:13
Jiji, a Ukrainian IT company specializing in classifieds and a spin-off of the Genesis holding company—which is the largest owner of classifieds platforms (similar to OLX) in Africa—has announced the acquisition of Bikroy, the largest such platform in Bangladesh. This was reported by the company’s co-founder, Volodymyr Mnoholetniy, according to "Komersant Ukrainian".
“We are continuing our work—with the acquisition of the largest classifieds platform in Bangladesh, a country with a population of 175 million people, we have every chance of becoming the largest classifieds platform in emerging markets,” Mnoholetniy wrote.
According to him, the company previously acquired the OLX and Cars45 businesses in Africa, as well as the company Tonaton.
“We previously acquired the OLX business in Africa, Tonaton, and Cars45 in Africa, and today we are announcing the fourth acquisition in Jiji’s history,” he wrote.
The product-focused IT company Jiji was founded in partnership with entrepreneur Anton Volyansky in 2014 as part of the Genesis ecosystem. By 2023, the marketplace had become profitable, and in 2025, the company paid out its first dividends.
“This shows that it is possible and necessary to invest in valuable long-term stories over a horizon of many years—and that’s normal,” emphasized the company’s co-founder.
According to him, Jiji is currently the market leader in regions with a combined population of over 500 million people. Among other things, it is Africa’s largest classifieds platform for cars, real estate, and electronics.
“Millions of people use Jiji every month. The Jiji brand is known to over 50% of the population in the countries where we operate,” Mnoholetniy noted.
Until now, Jiji has operated exclusively in nine African countries. This marks its first expansion beyond the continent.
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The parties have not disclosed the deal’s value. According to a Forbes source close to the deal, it could reach up to $20 million.
Before the acquisition, Jiji tested the market—in 2024, it launched its own marketplace there to assess the product’s competitiveness and the cost of user acquisition through advertising.
“The entire Bikroy team will remain intact—no layoffs are planned. The app has over 10 million downloads, about 3 million monthly visitors, over 400,000 buyers, and 100,000 sellers. GMV is approximately $3 billion, while Jiji’s total GMV is $13 billion,” the company explained.
The goal for the year is to increase Bikroy’s revenue by 50%. To achieve this, they plan to change the monetization model: currently, Bikroy earns money from advertising and paid product listings, but Jiji wants to transition to a sales commission model—similar to Rozetka or Prom.
The main argument in favor of Bangladesh is its scale: a population of 175 million. There are risks as well: the country’s economy is still recovering from 15 years of rule by Sheikh Hasina, who resigned following mass protests in 2024, the company explains.
The move into the Bangladeshi market is driven by its appeal: the company highlights the young population, high urbanization, and rapid growth of digital services, which create potential for scaling online commerce and advertising models.
The company explained that after the deal is finalized, Bikroy will continue to operate under its own brand and retain its local team to preserve its knowledge of the local market and customer base. At the same time, Jiji’s technologies will be gradually integrated into the platform—specifically recommendation algorithms, advertising tools, and monetization systems that have already proven effective in Africa.
In fact, this is not just about the acquisition of a separate service, but also an attempt by the Ukrainian company to transfer its classifieds development model from Africa to Asia, forming a multi-regional platform in developing countries, the company explained.
Bikroy
Bikroy launched in 2012; its most popular categories are cars, housing rentals, and land sales. The owner is the Swedish holding company Saltside, which builds marketplaces in developing markets. Negotiations began in 2025; this is the second deal between the parties: in 2022, Jiji acquired Saltside’s business in Ghana. Saltside’s majority shareholder is the Swedish company Kinnevik, which holds a 61% stake and sold the asset as part of a portfolio restructuring following an 88% drop in its own shares over five years.
Jiji
Jiji was founded in 2014 by Ukrainians Anton Volyansky and Volodymyr Mnoholetny as part of the Genesis ecosystem. Since then, the company has become one of the largest players in the online classifieds market in developing countries: today it operates in nine countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and serves approximately 65 million users annually. Since 2014, Jiji has raised and invested approximately $55 million in the development of its platform and has grown rapidly both organically and through acquisitions of other services.
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