Kelkoo Group
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Price comparison service |
| Founded | 1 January 1999 in France |
| Founder | Pierre Chappaz, Jérôme Mercier, Mauricio Lopez |
| Headquarters | London , United Kingdom |
Area served | Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, United States, Mexico |
Key people | Richard Stables (CEO since 2009) |
| Parent | Jamplant Ltd. |
| Website | kelkoogroup |
Kelkoo is a European price comparison service that was established in France in 1999.
In 2000, Kelkoo combined forces with Zoomit, Dondecomprar, and Shopgenie. It was then purchased by Yahoo! on 26 March 2004 and later sold to the British private equity firm Jamplant in 2008. On 13 October 2016, Kelkoo broadened its reach by acquiring the LeGuide group and rebranded itself as Kelkoo Group.
Operating across 22 nations, Kelkoo Group’s presence includes Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, the United States, and Mexico.
With its headquarters located in London, UK, Kelkoo Group also maintains offices in cities such as Paris, Grenoble, Vilnius, Oslo, and Milan. Richard Stables has held the position of CEO since 2009.
Company history
Founded in 1999 by Pierre Chappaz, Jérôme Mercier, and Mauricio Lopez, Kelkoo began with $3 million in funding from Banexi Ventures and Innovacom. After merging with three other European companies, the founding team expanded to include Per Siljubergsåsen, William Klippgen, Philip Wilkinson, and Jorge Garcia.
In April 2000, Kelkoo merged with Spain’s Dondecomprar.com as well as UK-based ShopGenie, which was founded by Philip Wilkinson. By September of the same year, a merger with Norway’s Zoomit.com took place, resulting in Zoomit becoming the largest shareholder within the combined entity through share issuance.
In June 2003, Kelkoo formed a partnership with Microsoft’s European MSN platform to supply shopping listings, followed by a similar agreement with Ask.com in June 2004.
Yahoo! Inc. acquired Kelkoo on 26 March 2004 for €450 million to improve targeted advertising for individual products. In November 2008, Yahoo! sold Kelkoo to Jamplant Ltd., a private equity firm.
The acquisition of LeGuide group in October 2016—France’s leading price comparison company—elevated Kelkoo’s status as Europe’s foremost shopping comparison platform and established a distinctive international footprint.
Business model
Kelkoo has maintained profitability since the fourth quarter of 2002. Similar to other price comparison services, it prioritizes attracting users through strong SEO strategies and launching affiliate partner sites such as ITV's PriceTerrier.com.
Apart from its core price comparison service, Kelkoo offers an API webservice utilized by other comparison platforms like PriceSpin.com and the SmartShoppers browser extension. This revenue-sharing approach compensates partners with affiliate commissions for each qualified user click they generate.
In 2012, Kelkoo chose Brazil for expansion over markets like India and China due to its growth potential.
In popular culture
A French publication titled Ils ont réussi leur start-up! La success-story de Kelkoo was released in 2005 by authors Julien Codorniou and Cyrille de Lasteyrie, documenting Kelkoo’s entrepreneurial achievements.
External links
- UK Website: Kelkoo.co.uk
- Group Website: Kelkoogroup.com
- French Website: https://www.leguide.com/