Urban Company raises US$ 255 million, valuation crosses US$ 2.1 billion

On Wednesday, Urban Company, a home services marketplace announced that the company has raised ~ Rs. 1,857 crore (US$ 255 million) in a fund raiser round led by Wellington Management, Prosus Ventures, and Dragoneer. The series F round took the Urban Company’s valuation to US$ 2.1 billion and players like Tiger Global, Vy Capital, and Steadview also participated in the funding series.

Urban Company CEO and co-founder, Mr. Abhiraj Singh Bhal, said, “The primary capital infusion include funds worth US$ 188 million and secondary capital includes sale of ~ US$ 67 million by early investors and select angels.” He added that in primary capital, the company has raised ~ US$ 330 million to date.

Mr. Bhal said, “The funds would be used for product development, innovation, training, enhanced safety and quality control measures for both partners and consumers.” He added that the company also aims to expand geographically by targeting to enter India’s top 100 cities by 2022 and further expanding into global markets.

At present, Urban Company comprises > 35,000 service partners across 35 cities in India, Australia, Singapore, the UAE, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It offers a range of home services to its consumers across categories like carpentry, cleaning services, beauty & personal care, plumbing, and appliance repairs.

Mr. Bhal stated that the company is also emphasising on training and upskilling its service partners. The service partners are also planned to expand as the company expands into more cities. Mr. Bhal said, “In 2020, post relaxation of COVID-19 induced lockdowns, the company has reported growth momentum with the operations resuming and doubling to pre-COVID-19 levels. As citizens are preferring to stay within homes, we expect robust growth momentum to continue further.”

Mr. Bhal highlighted that the firm has initiated various steps to safeguard its partners, including getting vaccinations and supplying safety gear. He added that >50% of its service partners have already been vaccinated, and the number of vaccinated service partners is expected to reach 75-80% by June-end

He added, “On booking, our customers can also view the status of the company’s overall vaccination rate in addition to the vaccination status of the assigned service partner.”

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.