According to media reports as of July 19, 2024, Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal, now running Titan Capital and co-founders of Snapdeal, received an incredible 200 times return on their investment before exiting the Urban Company platform.
After investing INR 57 lakh in 2015, Bansal and Bahl finally got their money back from the seed cheque they wrote a decade ago. The reports state that the proceeds from this investment amounted to INR 111 crore after their withdrawal.
Titan Capital has stated that they want to reinvest 100% of Urban Company’s profits in their next group of entrepreneurs. Through their investment vehicle Titan Capital, the Snapdeal founders have provided seed funding to over 200 new businesses.
In his LinkedIn post, Bahl stated, We have mixed feelings about exiting the business as an investor, but do so with only the best wishes for the company to continue to go from strength to strength, which I am 100% certain it will.
Who is the New Player Joining the Urban Company?
Dharna Capital, a subsidiary of Vy Capital, purchased the partners’ shares in the Gurguram-based company for $50 million in a secondary transaction. Dharana Capital’s founder and managing partner Vamsi Duvvuri will be joining the board of directors of Urban Company as a non-executive director.
As a component of their secondary transaction, a few workers had also sold their stock options.
What is the Current Financial Status of Urban Company?
According to Bahl, the company is anticipated to achieve profitability in FY25, after recording a profit before taxes and revenue of INR 282-283 crore for the April-June quarter of this year.
Revenue from operations increased 45% year over year to INR 637 crore in FY23. Compared to FY22, when it lost INR 514 crore, it lost just INR 308 crore this year.
The firm has not yet submitted its financial accounts for the fiscal year ending in March 2024.
About Urban Company
Technology-based Urban Company provides in-home services. Haircuts, massage therapy, painting, repairing, and other beauty services are all part of this package. According to their website, the organisation employs more than 45,000 skilled workers who provide their services in 103 cities across four nations. The company was founded in 2014 by Varun Khaitan, Raghav Chandra, and Abhiraj Bhal.
About Titan Capital
The company’s website indicates that it has recently invested in 91Trucks, consumer brand Boba Bhai, and software service Simplismart, among other companies. Popular firms that have been featured in Titan Capital’s portfolio include Giva Jewellery, RazorPay, and Ola Cabs. The twenty-plus industries that the firm claims to have invested in include consumer tech, B2B service, fintech, and many more.
Gig employment has revolutionized the Indian economy in recent years, providing a large number of jobs for the population and adding to the country’s GDP in the long run. It is getting so popular that people are actively choosing gig work over regular work due to the convenience and flexibility of the job. Companies that recruit gig workers save money on office space, equipment, and other expenses, while workers enjoy flexible work schedules and the opportunity to do something they like and also earn more by doing multiple gigs.
Gig jobs were already popular before the pandemic, but since the COVID outbreak, many individuals who lost their normal employment have turned to gigs, which are very easy to find and offer an excellent opportunity to make money. More businesses are turning to gig workers in place of full-time staff, and their operational methods are shifting as a result. This allows them to hire more talent but at a lower cost.
Companies that provide gig jobs are expanding in India, and they are assisting a large number of people who are looking for work. We’ll take a look at a few of these businesses in this article.
About Gig Economy and Benefits and Challenges of Gig Workers
Flipkart
Flipkart – Gig Economy Company
Most of the gig workers working at Flipkart are delivery service people. Founded in 2007 by Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, the e-commerce giant connects sellers to the consumers and delivers the products to the customers. Flipkart also provides training to its supply chain employees and provides them with all the gear necessary for the job.
Urban Company
Urban Company – Gig Economy Company
Urban Company is an on-demand home service platform that allows consumers to access a variety of services from the comfort of their own homes. Urban Company currently has 35,000+ skilled professionals providing 7,50,000+ services each month, as well as having a worldwide presence in four countries.
Bigbasket
Bigbasket – Gig Economy Company
Founded in 2011, Bigbasket is an online grocery delivery service that brings goods to your home once you place an order. The company employs roughly 35,000 people across 30 Indian cities, a large percentage of which are delivery drivers.
Swiggy is an online food delivery service that brings food right to your door. Founded in 2014, Bangalore-based company that operates in 500+ cities. Swiggy is also known as one of the fastest-growing unicorn companies in India. This delivery business, which employs over 1,30,000 people, makes around 1 million deliveries every day.
Zomato
Zomato – Gig Economy Company
Zomato was launched in 2008 as Foodiebay, and in 2010 it was renamed Zomato Media Pvt Ltd. Deepinder Goyal and Pankaj Chaddah were the founders of the Zomato. The business joined India’s Unicorn club in 2018. It is available in a variety of countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Sri Lanka, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom.
Amazon
Amazon – Gig Economy Company
Amazon first entered the Indian market in 2013, and it has since grown to become one of the country’s largest online retail platforms. Amazon has created Flex, which provides part-time delivery work and other Amazon gig jobs in India for workers who want to make extra money. Those who have their own vehicles are eligible to apply for the delivery job, and can earn around Rs.140 per hour.
Dunzo
Dunzo – Gig Economy Company
Kabeer Biswas, Ankur Agarwal, Dalvir Suli, and Mukund Jha established Dunzo in 2014. It’s an online service that delivers necessities and groceries to customers’ homes. The company is headquartered in Bangalore. Jaipur, Gurgaon, Delhi, Chennai, Pune, Bangalore, Mumbai, and Hyderabad are among the eight major cities in India where Dunzo is now active.
PharmEasy
PharmEasy – Gig Economy Company
PharmEasy is an online drug and healthcare supplies delivery service based in Mumbai. The application also provides online doctor consultations and telehealth. PharmEasy app works by taking the customer’s prescription, verifying it at the store, and then delivering the medications as needed. During the pandemic, the company also launched the gift a mask campaign, in which customers were encouraged to donate a mask to frontline employees, with the company matching each donation.
Ola Cabs
Ola – Gig Economy Company
Ola cabs, often known as Ola, is an online taxi and rideshare service that offers consumers rides that can be simply booked online. The company, which is based in Bangalore, provides services in practically all of the country’s main cities. Despite its many issues, Ola continues to have a large user base in the country.
Porter
Porter – Gig Economy Company
The company was founded in 2014 and is active in over 13 cities and has served over 50 lakh customers. The Porter provides transportation aids to the customers, which also helps the owner-drivers with employment and provides them with a consistent source of income. For now, the company has around 2 lakh owner-drivers.
Uber
Uber – Gig Economy Company
Uber began operations in India in 2013, and it has since served over 95 million riders and drivers. It is an online taxi and rideshare company that accepts online reservations for rides. Uber India has supplied gig jobs to a large number of drivers, however the Uber structure in India is very different from that in other developed countries.
Mr. Right is a home service business that offers a variety of services such as appliance repair, deep cleaning, and more. The company accepts orders online and will send a professional with a good track record to the customer’s home to complete the work. The organization employs over 60,000 freelancers and offers a variety of home services.
Blinkit
Blinkit – Gig Economy Company
Blinkit, formerly Grofers, is an online platform for ordering groceries and other necessities. Albinder Dhindsa and Saurabh Kumar founded the company in 2013. The company began operations in Delhi and has since expanded to other cities. The company’s goal is to alleviate the problems and inconveniences that customers and merchants face as a result of the market’s disorganized setup.
Conclusion
Gig jobs are slowly but steadily gaining popularity in India. Because of the pandemic, there has been an increase in gig workers, and some individuals are enjoying it and do not want to return to their former jobs. Gig jobs offer convenience and flexibility. Gig workers make up a major portion of the country’s workforce and contribute significantly to its GDP. It is something that the authorities must address, and actions to protect gig workers and provide them with fair working conditions must still be taken.
FAQs
What is gig work?
Gig workers work as short-term, temporary, or independent contractors for one or more companies, rather than a regular, in-office, full-time position with a single corporation.
How much do gig workers earn in India?
The average salary for gig workers in India is around Rs 12,000 to Rs 16,000.
What is the most popular gig job?
Delivery driver is the most popular gig job.
What is called Gig economy?
Gig economy is a workforce environment for short-term employment, contractual jobs, and independent contractors who do not get monthly wage, isntead they get paid for completing a Gig.
The service industry got swooned away with the entrance of Urban Company in the market. It came and created a huge place for itself in the business world.
It came into people’s life no less than like a genie. People wanted to enjoy services like beauty, the spa at home. So, Urban Company came like a genie and granted this wish.
The company has grown well and gained great success for itself. The reasons for its success are its planned business model and great marketing strategy.
Today the competition in the startup industry is increasing. Urban Company has earned huge popularity in no time. One thing that plays a major role in making it popular is its marketing techniques.
It was not too long ago that this startup came into existence in 2014. The unique idea helped to get the customer’s attention and proper planning made it grow.
The Urban Company came with the idea of providing various services at home. It started with a few services. But with great customer response, soon the company introduced many more services. Its services include beauty, spa, educators, electricians, etc.
The company is like a bridge that connected the customers with service providers. It made the whole process easy, affordable, and reliable.
The startup has turned out to be a great success in the past seven years. In recent June, the company raised a $255 Million Series F round and turned into a Unicorn with a valuation of $2.1 billion.
Importance of Marketing Strategy
Marketing Startegy is a process that helps a company use its resources in the best way to increase its sales. In simple words, it is a strategy to promote and sell goods and services.
The process of marketing is the most important in any business. In this competitive world, it is the marketing strategy that helps a business to stand out.
Various startups become big in the industry because of their good strategic management. Startups like Urban Company, Nykaa, are growing and glowing with their strategic marketing. Their strategies of marketing help them to sell and promote their products and services so well.
Hence, having a good strategy for marketing is essential for any business to flourish.
Every company needs the right marketing techniques to be successful. The following are the strategies followed by Urban company:
Television Commercials
One of the best ways to attract Indian audiences is through television commercials. If anyone wants to promote something, place an ad on the television. This is what the Urban company did.
They have made television ads showcasing how easily one can bring services at home. To make the ads even more attractive, they have featured Bollywood celebrities in them.
In an ad, Kriti Sanon is seen hiring salon services at home. In another, Ayushman Khurrana shows how easy it is to get your repair and cleaning done with the Urban company app.
These ads created a great impression on the audience about the company being reliable and affordable.
Google and Facebook Ads
Urban company has also dived into to sea of digital marketing. To keep up with the market trends and technologies, the Urban company knows its way for sure.
It runs both Google and Facebook ads. The platforms are a huge hub of the Indian audience. If someone searches for the company or visits the website, soon they will spot its ads around Google.
The ads on Facebook help the brand reach the target audience. These ads by the Urban company is a great strategy to increase their online presence and gain potential customers.
Influencer Marketing
The audiences consider a brand more conceivable when they see others using it. Considering this and the social media reach, the Urban company has also opted for influencer marketing.
It is one of the most successful strategies for marketing nowadays. The company gets to promote its services by leveraging the influencer’s audience.
In this way, the Urban company has made itself super popular among the customers. The influencers promoting the brand include Gauahar Khan, Shivangi Joshi, Mallika Dua, etc.
To attract customers is one thing and to retain them is important as well. Urban company doesn’t like to forget their customers after the services are done. So, it tries to retain its customers with email and SMS marketing.
A customer adds a phone number to register on the app. In this way, the Urban company can send them messages. It helps to inform customers of new offers and discounts. It is a great strategy to market and develops trust among the users.
SEO Strategy
It is important for an online brand to attract traffic for its growth. The urban company uses simple keywords like massage services near me, yoga teacher, etc. This helps them to bring organic traffic.
Urban company’s SEO strategy is strong enough to gain the audience for itself. It generates search traffic of 61.26%.
Advertisements With Regional Touch
Urban Company Marketing Strategy
The company is born in India. So, they use a great strategy to gain popularity among different regions. The brand has made ads celebrating regional festivals in regional languages. This marketing strategy has helped the company to develop a bond with the audience.
There are a few other strategies followed by the Urban company for its marketing. These include PR strategies, Campaigns, sponsorship, (sponsored IPL in 2020).
Urban Company Covid-19 Marketing Strategy
The company played an amazing marketing strategy with a message. They created a gap in their logo that displayed the importance of social distancing. The company paid great attention to the trends. They started posting DIYs for beauty to help their customers.
It also took live sessions on social media to connect with its audience. In this way, the Urban Company maintained its online presence during the pandemic.
Urban Company has come up as a leader in the service industry. It has used technology to bridge the gap between customers and service providers.
The company has made a strong online recognition for itself. It has now become an essential app for many metropolitan cities.
It has made use of various marketing strategies to earn great popularity. It has indulged in digital marketing, SEO, PR strategies, social media, and more. All this with proper planning and analysis has made the company grow so well.
FAQ
What is the marketing strategy employed by Urban Company?
Urban Company promotes its services using television commercials, email marketing, and PR strategy.
Who is the founder of Urban Company?
Abhiraj Singh Bhal, Varun Khaitan, and Raghav Chandra are the founders of Urban Company.
Funding is the money that new enterprises require to operate and achieve their objectives. Funding can come from a variety of sources, but investors are the most common. When investors put money into a company, they want it to succeed and make a lot of profit so that they can get their money back.
There are different types of investors out there like angel investors, personal investors, peer to peer lenders, venture capitalists and so on. There are major corporations that invest in startups and subsequently profit from their profits. It is a win-win situation for both parties.
Accel is one such company that invests in new businesses. It is well-known for its investments in IT firms, software, and internet enterprises. In this article, we’ll talk about Accel-backed startups.
In 2004, Facebook was just a social networking site Mark Zuckerberg launched in his dorm room at Harvard. In its initial days it was just a website for college students to connect to each other and later got spread to other colleges and universities as well. It received funding from Accel in 2005 and it got what it needed and went public in 2012. It became great news as Facebook is now worth US$159.32 billion (2020) and Accel gained a lot of profit from their investment and set an example for the others. Accel and Jim Breyer which is an American Venture Capital company and a partner of Accel owns 11.4% i.e. US$11.4 Billion.
Launched in 2011, Supercell has since released a lot of successful games like Clash of Clans, Boom Beach, Hay Day. These games have millions of active users and daily logins. When Supercell was a small, pre-launch game studio switching from Facebook games to focused on upcoming mobile platforms in 2011, Accel led its Series A investment. Softbank bought a majority stake in the company in 2013, which was then sold to Tencent in 2016.
Rovio
Rovio is a Finnish games-first entertainment company that designs, distributes, and licenses mobile games as well as works as a brand licensor in a variety of entertainment and consumer product categories. The Angry Birds brand, which began as a successful mobile game in 2009, is the company’s most well-known product. In October of 2017, Rovio went public on the Helsinki Stock Exchange. Accel funded with Series A in 2011 and then in 2017.
Etsy
Etsy is a website where entrepreneurial craftsmen, artists, and collectors may sell vintage, handcrafted, or custom-made jewellery, apparel, home décor, art, toys, and other items. Etsy is funded by 19 investors and one of them is Accel. The initial investment was done in January 2008, with follow-on investments in 2010, 2012 and an IPO in 2015.
Flipkart
Flipkart was created in 2007 by Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal with the goal of introducing contemporary retail to India’s growing middle class. Initially focused on online bookstores, the company has expanded to include a wide range of products as well as its own nationwide logistics centres and delivery fleets, assuring a high-quality, end-to-end shopping experience for all customers. When Sachin and Binny were operating the company out of their apartment in 2009, Accel led the first-ever investment in Flipkart. Accel was a part of every succeeding fundraising round, and Flipkart was acquired (majority interest) by Walmart in 2018 after transforming India’s domestic consumer retail business in less than ten years.
Swiggy
Based in Bangalore, Swiggy is India’s most popular food delivery service. In addition to essentials, the company has created a general product delivery system, with a poppy orange, proprietary delivery fleet that sets it apart from other food delivery platforms. Accel first funded a Series A, B, C in 2015 and then a Series D in 2016 and Series E in 2017.
Urban Company
Urban Company, which was founded in 2014, has grown to become India’s largest at-home services marketplace. Users can connect with skilled and experienced service experts through the all-in-one platform. Accel first funded in 2015 and then in 2017.
BlackBuck
Founded in 2015, BlackBuck has become India’s largest trucking network by redefining the logistics of matching shippers with trucks in an organized and transparent way. The freight and services platforms deliver reliability, efficiency, and a seamless experience – whether it be matching a shipper with a truck, facilitating digital payments, or helping truckers manage their fleet effectively. The unique vertically integrated model is rapidly digitizing the entire online ecosystem of trucking in India. Accel gave it two investments in 2015, one in 2017, and one in 2019.
Freshworks
Since 2010, the company, then known as Freshdesk, has been at the forefront of democratising CRM software. Freshworks was renamed in 2017 to better reflect the company’s integrated array of SaaS products. The unique customer engagement software has become the trusted CRM for organisations of all sizes because it provides a ready-to-use, easy-to-setup and use solution. Accel was the first investor in the company, making the first investment in 2011, and has been a part of every subsequent financing round.
Money View
Money View offers no-collateral personal loans in a matter of hours. Money View’s loan application procedure is totally digital, from application to disbursement. The app allows you to maintain track of your loan’s progress, comprehend verification information, and receive notifications about forthcoming EMI payments. Accel invested in Money View in 2014.
Conclusion
Money is one of the most critical aspects of a new business. Without finances, a firm cannot start and acquire all of the other resources required to run and profit. Accel gives innovative enterprises with the capital they require to realise their objectives and turn a profit. It’s a terrific way for both sides to make money since as the business expands, so does the income.
FAQs
Who is the founder of Accel?
In 1983, Jim Swartz and Arthur Patterson co-founded Accel.
Who is the CEO of Accel?
Tara Abraham is the CEO of Accel.
How do you approach an Accel partner?
You should approach Accel with a brief overview of your project if you want them to invest in it. If your project is judged to be a good fit for Accel’s portfolio, you will be called for a more in-depth discussion.
What are the accel partners funded companies?
Accel partners has funded in many companies. Some of the companies tha are funded by Accel partners are:
Muskaan Kapoor
