Urban Company files for ₹1,900-crore IPO amid market turbulence and global tensions

Urban Company, the full-stack online marketplace for various home and beauty-related services, has filed for an IPO worth ₹1,900 crore, according to its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) submitted to market regulator Sebi. As per the document, the Tiger Global-backed startup aims to raise ₹429 crore through a fresh issue, while existing shareholders plan to sell shares worth ₹1,471 crore.

From the proceeds of the offering, the company plans to invest about ₹190 crore in developing new technology and cloud infrastructure, to be deployed in tranches—₹42 crore in FY2026, ₹74 crore in FY2027, and ₹74 crore in FY2028. Additionally, it has earmarked ₹70 crore for lease payments for its offices and ₹80 crore for marketing activities. However, it has not specified how the remainder of the proceeds will be utilised. The offering also includes a pre-IPO placement of about ₹85.8 crore.

Urban Company's plan to go public comes at a time when the market is fraught with uncertainty, driven not only by scepticism surrounding U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff impositions on trading partners but also by escalating hostilities between India and Pakistan following a militant attack in a meadow near Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir.

This uncertainty—and the ensuing volatility amid weakening investor appetite—has already impacted other listings. Bengaluru-based electric two-wheeler startup Ather Energy, for instance, slashed its issue size from ₹3,100 crore to ₹2,981 crore and, on Monday, saw a tepid response on the first day of its public issue launch, generating only 16% of total bids.

In the nine months ended December 31, 2024, Urban Company turned profitable, generating a pre-tax profit of about ₹27.2 crore, compared to a pre-tax loss of ₹57.8 crore in the corresponding period last year, according to the DRHP. During the same period, it recorded revenue from operations of about ₹846 crore, up from ₹600 crore in the year-ago period. Urban Company also disclosed that cleaning and pest control services were among the fastest-growing categories on its platform in the nine months ended December 31, 2024, and in Fiscal 2024.

About 13.8% of its revenue from operations came from international markets. Urban Company currently operates in Singapore, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia. It reported an average of 48,169 monthly active service professionals in the nine months ended 2024, and employed 1,045 full-time employees as of December 31, 2024.