Urban Company IPO: How the late Ratan Tata made 16x returns, why Swiggy’s Sriharsha Majety is sitting pretty and Ireena Vittal’s bonanza

Urban Company’s (UC) ₹1,900 crore IPO is one of the most closely watched offerings of 2025, with the issue of the home services marketplace oversubscribed by 9x on Day Two. While all eyes will be on the post-listing action, the IPO has already created a windfall for early backers such as the late Ratan Naval Tata, late-stage strategic entrant Swiggy cofounder Sriharsha Majety and a bonanza for well-known independent director, Ireena Vittal.

Back in 2015, Tata had invested ₹25 lakh in UrbanClap, UC’s earlier avatar. Ten years later, that bet has grown to ₹4 crore at the IPO price of ₹103 per share, a staggering 16x return. For Tata, his original investment of 156 shares, following a bonus of 2,499 shares per share in February 2025, culminated in nearly 3.9 lakh shares. If the listing is a bumper one, the gains will only get better.

Unlike Tata, Swiggy co-founder Sriharsha Majety purchased 37 shares (92,500 shares post bonus), investing about ₹88.8 lakh as part of a pre-IPO cashout sale by the three founders of UC. Founders Abhiraj Singh Bhal, Varun Khaitan, and Raghav Chandra part-sold their holdings through a secondary sale of ₹780 crore early this year. Chandra had sold the shares to Majety. At a weighted average price of ₹96 a share, Majety’s gains are modest: the stake is worth ₹95.3 lakh—a 7% rise in seven months.

On paper, the numbers don’t look impressive, but Majety’s move is less about short-term gain and more of a long-term bet. Interestingly, as the leader of one of India’s largest consumer internet companies, Majety’s entry in the cap table signals a belief in the hyperlocal network narrative of UC’s household services empire.

Incidentally, Zomato founder Deepinder Goyal, too, had joined the board in March 2002, but had resigned in February 2023. However, Vittal, who had joined the board in April 2022, stayed on. In February 2025, 79,968 equity shares were allotted to Vittal following the bonus issue on her earlier allotment of 32 shares, valuing her current stake at ₹82.4 lakh.

Vittal currently heads the nomination and remuneration committee, while also being a part of the risk management committee. An alumna of the IIM-Calcutta, she brings decades of experience from her roles at McKinsey & Co, Wipro, and board positions at marquee companies such as Maruti Suzuki India, Asian Paints, Diageo PLC and several non-profits.

Selling Shareholders

The largest part of the IPO is the offer for sale worth ₹1,428 crore, where existing investors are cashing out a portion of their holdings.

Accel India is selling about 3.79 crore shares worth ₹390 crore, with a weighted average acquisition cost of just ₹3.77, fetching the fund nearly 27x returns. Similarly, Bessemer India Capital Holdings is selling around 1.68 crore shares for ₹173 crore, making over 14x returns on a cost of ₹7.14 per share. Elevation Capital (formerly SAIF Partners) has also achieved a 19x return on its acquisition price of ₹5.39 per share, cumulatively worth ₹346 crore.

Of the other selling shareholders, Tiger Global is selling nearly 2.94 crore shares for ₹303 crore, fetching it a modest 1.7x on a cost price of ₹61.65 a share. VY C11, the Dubai-based venture capital firm, is offloading 2.10 crore shares worth ₹216 crore, fetching it a return of 5x on a price of ₹20.40 as per the RHP.

The Road Ahead

Founded in 2014, UrbanClap was rebranded in 2020, reflecting its shift from being a “marketplace” to a “full stack” services brand. The company invested heavily in training professionals, standardising offerings and ensuring consistency of customer experience. As a result, customer stickiness has only increased. From 76% of repeat customers in FY23, the number surged to 82% in FY25: proof that the company is gaining on the trust quotient.

Unsurprisingly, revenues touched ₹1,144 crore in FY25, a CAGR of 34% since FY23. The company has also swung from a ₹312 crore loss in FY23 to a ₹240 crore profit in FY25. Though excluding a one-off tax credit of ₹211 crore, the adjusted profit is ₹29 crore.

But for now, the IPO is proving to be a golden ticket for existing investors. If UC can grow profitably—and improve its operating margins (currently 1%)—the public listing will mark the beginning of a journey that may see both the early believers and new entrants standing to gain.