Urban Company raises $255m in Series F funding round

Tech-enabled home services marketplace, Urban Company, has raised $255m in a Series F funding round.

The Series F round was led by Prosus Ventures, Dragoneer and Wellington Management, with participation from Vy Capital, Tiger Global and Steadview.

Founded in November 2014, Urban Company is now valued at $2.1bn. The latest round includes a primary capital infusion of $188m and a secondary sale of approximately $67m by select angels and early investors.

The company said that the new infusion will be used for innovation, training, product development, and to enhance quality control and safety measures for both partners and consumers. It also aims to increase its geographic footprint by entering the top 100 cities in India and further expanding into international markets this year.

Urban Company has more than 35,000 service partners across 35 cities in India, the UAE, Singapore, Australia and Saudi Arabia. The marketplace offers a variety of home services to consumers, including beauty treatments, haircuts, deep cleaning, plumbing, carpentry and appliance repairs.

Urban Company focuses on upskilling and training its service partners. Additionally, the company empowers its partner network via financing and insurance, product procurement, training and certification along with tech-led standardization of services.

“With this funding, we plan to rapidly scale our business while continuing to invest further in the safety of our consumers and service partners, training of partners and product development,” said Urban Company CEO and co-founder Abhiraj Singh Bhal.

Ashutosh Sharma, head of investment for India, Prosus Ventures, added, “Urban Company is disrupting a large, fragmented industry that has seen low digital adoption until now. In addition, the initial traction with international expansion in geographies we know well is encouraging and presents an opportunity for significant growth into the future.”