Urban Company (the home services platform) and Imagine Marketing (the parent of consumer electronics brand boAt) have received the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (SEBI) approval to go ahead with their initial public offerings (IPOs). Urban Company has been cleared for a public issue worth around ₹1,900 crore (~ $223 million), which will include a fresh issue of ₹429 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of about ₹1,471 crore by its existing investors. Meanwhile, Imagine Marketing has been granted approval through SEBI’s confidential filing route and is expected to seek a valuation of around $1.5 billion (₹13,000 crore) when it hits the market.
For Urban Company (which was founded in 2014), shareholders in the OFS include global investors like Accel, Tiger Global, Elevation Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners and Vy Capital, who will partly offload their stakes. And the fresh capital raised will be used to improve technology on the platform, improve customer and service partner experience, upgrade office infrastructure, and expand its footprint in both domestic and overseas markets. Notably, at present, the company operates in 59 cities across India and has a presence in international markets including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Australia.
Importantly, the company is entering the public market with stronger finances than before. In FY25, its revenue rose 38% to ₹1,144 crore, and it turned profitable after years of losses. Despite its strong performance, the company faces its own challenges. For example, in March 2025, it launched a quick-service offering called ‘Insta Maids’, which faced sharp criticism from labour groups and social media users who said the name demeaned domestic workers, eventually forcing the company to rebrand it as ‘Insta Help’.
At the same time, Imagine Marketing (boAt’s parent), got SEBI’s approval after it had put its IPO plans on hold in 2022 due to weak market conditions. However, the firm, which is backed by major investors like Warburg Pincus, Fireside Ventures and Qualcomm Ventures, is facing significant financial challenges. In FY24, the company was able to reduce its net loss by over 38% to ₹79.7 crore, but its revenue still fell more than 7% to ₹3,117.7 crore. Most of this decline came from international markets, where revenue dropped almost 89% to ₹13.8 crore from ₹122.6 crore the previous year. Even in India, sales went down to ₹3,101.2 crore from ₹3,239 crore in FY23.
The approvals for Urban Company and boAt are part of a larger wave of IPO activity in India. In the past week alone, SEBI cleared the proposals of 13 companies, with combined fundraising expectations of over ₹15,000–16,000 crore. These include renewable energy player Juniper Green Energy, pharma firm Allchem Lifescience and several others across logistics, energy solutions and recycling sectors.
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