Urban Company considers fundraise as instant-services battle heats up

The proposed fundraise comes as competition heats up in the instant home services space, driven by expanding rivals Snabbit and Pronto. On 2nd August, Urban Company announced that its instant domestic help service, InstaHelp, crossed 100,000 delivered orders that day. Snabbit says its daily job volume has surged from around 400 to more than 1.15 lakh in less than two years.

Scaling InstaHelp

Urban Company has repeatedly identified InstaHelp as a strategic priority, and has been investing in scaling the service. InstaHelp's loss per order narrowed to ₹346 in Q1 FY27 from ₹447 in the previous quarter, which the company attributed to improving density in its micro-markets.

“We are investing aggressively in InstaHelp to cement our leadership in a category that we believe is of strategic importance to Urban Company,” Abhiraj Singh Bhal, the company’s co-founder and chief executive, said during the Q1 FY27 earnings call. Bhal said investing early in the category could help the company build a strong volume moat around its core business and encourage users to open the app multiple times a month. In the long term, he said, this could benefit the overall platform.

In Q1 FY27, Urban Company’s revenue from operations grew 44% year-on-year to ₹528.3 crore. However, the company reported a net loss of ₹92.1 crore, compared with a net profit of ₹6.9 crore in the year-ago period. Meanwhile, the company's net transaction value rose 42% year-on-year to ₹1,465 crore.

QIPs in vogue

This comes at a time when several new-age companies are turning to qualified institutional placements (QIPs) to raise capital after going public. Swiggy raised ₹10,000 crore through a QIP on 12 December 2025. Ola Electric Mobility launched a QIP on 1 June 2026, eventually raising ₹780 crore.

“For new-age companies, there is a dire need to infuse capital at every stage of the business until they improve profitability and strengthen key revenue and business parameters. As a result, raising funds regularly has become imperative,"said Kranthi Bathini, director, equity strategy, at stock broking and wealth management firm WealthMills Securities Pvt. Ltd.

Prior to listing, these platforms relied on private equity and existing backers for growth capital, Bathini said, adding that post-IPO, tapping public markets through QIPs has become almost inevitable.

Nabodita Ganguly

Nabodita is a New Delhi-based journalist who covers India’s startup ecosystem and venture-capital landscape. She enjoys reporting on emerging companies, funding trends, founders, and the policies shaping the innovation economy. Before this, she worked with Outlook Business and The Hindu Businessline. When she’s not chasing stories, you’ll find her with a cup of coffee, watching a good comedy, or getting lost in a book. She believes there’s always a good story waiting to be discovered, sometimes in a boardroom and sometimes over a great cup of coffee.