URBANCLAP RAISES $21 M IN SERIES C FUNDING
Home services start-up firm UrbanClap on Sunday said it has raised $21 million in a series C funding round led by Internet investment fund Vy Capital.
Early investors SAIF Partners, Accel Partners and series B investor Bessemer Venture Partners also participated in the round, the company said.
Vy Capital also spent approximately $1 million more to buy shares held by some employees and a part of stakes of angel investors Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal, the founders of Snapdeal, UrbanClap co-founder Abhiraj Bhal said over the phone.
Led by Alexander Tamas, Dubai-based Vy Capital is a major investor in Zomato and recently invested in rewards app MagicPin.
Financial news site VC Circle first reported the investment on Friday.
UrbanClap, launched in 2014, allows users to hire professionals for in-house beauty services, house cleaning and repair, yoga and fitness, and similar services in eight cities.
UrbanClap founder Abhiraj Bhal said the funds will be used to expand to more cities, invest in technology and add new vendors.
The company is launching an effort to train professionals by opening training centres in the cities where it currently operates.
“The new round of capital gives us the elbow room to invest in core areas of our business such as supply on-boarding at scale, training, building spares and parts inventory, etc. This will help us firmly cement our market leadership position.” Bhal said in a statement.
UrbanClap had earlier in May raised ₹20 crore in debt from Trifecta Capital.
With about $60 million of capital raised, including this round, UrbanClap has a leadership position in selling home services in satellite towns and metropolitan areas, the company claimed.
It has more than 65,000 service professionals registered on the platform servicing 300,000 bookings each month. It counts National Capital Region, Mumbai and Bengaluru as its top markets.
The latest funding round gives UrbanClap enough resources to extend its lead. Its closest rival, Zimmber, was acquired by classifieds firm Quikr in May.
The others operating in the segment include Matrix Partners-backed HouseJoy in Bengaluru and Timesaverz in Mumbai.
“We are looking at a four-year road map to an initial public offering (IPO),” Bhal said. “We have to stay at the core of what we do and do not lose market. I don’t see a reason why we will not be able to IPO at a healthy market cap.”
He declined to disclose details of shareholding in the company.