Popular home services upstart Urban Company has become the latest Indian tech startup to gear up for its public debut. The Gurugram-based firm has formally filed its draft papers for an initial public offering (IPO) valued at ₹1,900 crore ($223 million). The move, backed by major investors including Tiger Global and Bessemer Venture Partners, and will comprise a fresh issue of shares worth ₹429 crore, while existing investors are set to offload stakes amounting to ₹1,471 crore.
According to the firm’s DRHP filed with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), it intends to deploy more than half of the proceeds from the fresh issue toward developing its tech capabilities, especially enhancing its cloud infrastructure and tech offerings. Additionally, portions of the funds will be used for leasing new office spaces and ramping up marketing efforts. The share sale by existing investors involves prominent stakeholders such as Accel India and Elevation Capital, who hold stakes of 10.5% and 10.8% in the firm respectively. These early backers are collectively selling shares worth ₹779 crore. Other major investors like Tiger Global, through Internet Fund V, and VY Capital are also participating in the offer for sale, with combined offloads amounting to several hundred crores.
The IPO filing comes at a time when Urban Company has demonstrated improving financial health. The company posted a pre-tax profit of ₹271.4 million in the nine months ending December 2024, a substantial turnaround from a pre-tax loss of ₹577.7 million during the same period a year earlier. A tax credit further bolstered its bottom line, allowing Urban Company to report an overall profit of ₹2.43 billion during the period.
In terms of operational scale, Urban Company has a presence across 59 cities in India, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia. Its service portfolio has expanded beyond just beauty and home care to encompass a wide range of on-demand services. The platform has managed to maintain its growth in these varied markets, amid competition from rivals like Physics Wallah, PhonePe, and Flipkart (who are also exploring IPOs).
This development also comes at a time when India’s startup ecosystem is, once again, witnessing a surge in public market interest (Ather Energy being the latest to open up its OPO for subscription). Several well-known startups (Zepto, for example) are either preparing for or have already ventured into IPOs, tapping into the broader investor appetite for high-growth digital businesses. The IPO will also strengthen Urban Company’s ability to compete domestically and internationally, particularly in markets like the UAE and Saudi Arabia, where it has been expanding its presence.
