Feels like Day 0 all over again: Urban Company CEO

Urban Company Chief Executive and Cofounder Abhiraj Singh Bhal returned to his Gurugram office days after the home-services platform’s initial public offering (IPO) raised ₹1,900 crore, achieving a market capitalisation of ₹23,987 crore.

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The 38-year-old’s firm logged 2025's most subscribed large IPO, with bids 104 times the offer. The debut highlights India’s largely offline home-services market, seen as a &8.5 trillion opportunity by 2030. Profitable since FY25, Urban Company operates in 47 Indian cities and four overseas markets, formalising thousands of gig workers across beauty, repairs, and other services. In a video interview with Peerzada Abrar, Bhal discusses profitability, competitive strategy, and using AI to reshape the sector. Edited excerpts:

Are you satisfied with Urban Company’s IPO performance and the current valuation? How does it stack up against expectations — and against other Indian startup listings such as Zomato, Nykaa, or Swiggy?

We are very humbled and grateful for the response we've received. We have a long way to go — a lot to do and a lot to prove. We'll have to earn trust in the public markets through consistent execution and performance. That means working hard, being honest and transparent in our disclosures, and equipping investors with all the information they need. In many ways, it feels like day zero all over again -- the start of a new journey to build Urban Company into a much larger and more impactful business over the next 20 years. We also respect and look up to all the companies out there, and draw inspiration from each of them.

Accel is seeing a 28-fold return on its early bet. What kind of gains are founders and investors realising, and how did you balance rewarding early employees in the IPO?