At Your Service, With Products

Urban Company's DNA is changing from 'service' to 'consumer'. What are the implications as it readies for life as a listed firm?

- By NAINI THAKER & SAMREEN WANI

A decade ago, at Hotel Grand in New Delhi, Mridul Arora, partner at Elevation Capital, met the co-founders of Urban Company: Abhiraj Singh Bhal, Varun Khaitan and Raghav Chandra.

Like most young people dreaming of building the next great startup, Arora found the trio to be full of dreams and promise. What's more, he found them focussed on consumer pain points that were very real.

Back then, the startup was called Urban Clap, and its avowed mission was to bring providers of home services on a digital platform, raise the quality of their services, make the pricing transparent, bring in accountability, and make payment seamless. Over the years, as it rebranded itself as Urban Company—as it prepared to venture into international markets, it was important to have a more universally appealing brand and avoid the negative connotation of 'clap' in western slang. Its services grew to what in startup lingo is called “full stack” beauty and wellness and home services.

We still think of ourselves as a company that has its best years ahead. Only 1 percent of the value creation has happened so far." ABHIRAJ SINGH BHAL, co-founder and CEO, Urban Company

Back then—though it was not that long ago—urban dwellers' nightmares consisted of occasions when they needed an electrician, carpenter or other such handymen. You knew them but struggled to get hold of them and struggled some more to get them to come and do a job. The pricing involved a mix of haggling and generosity. You went out of your way to make sure the fellow did not mind visiting your home again— should the next nightmare strike.