Urban Company, a home services platform, has secured $50 million from Dharana Capital, a growth-stage technology and consumer investment firm focused on India. The investment involved a secondary transaction, where Dharana Capital bought shares from employees and other shareholders. The liquidity of Urban Company’s employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) for this deal is its largest so far.
Vamsi Duvvuri, founder and Managing Partner of Dharana Capital, who will be joining the board of Urban Company as a non-executive director, said in a statement, “Urban Company, with its full-stack approach and focus on partner enablement, has built a strong, capital-efficient, and durable business in a challenging local services market.”
He added, “We remain deeply impressed with the focus and execution of the UC founders and team. We look forward to continuing to support them in their endeavour to build a long-lasting institution.”
Dharana Capital has previously invested in Zopper, an insurance platform; Lentra, a lending platform; and NoBroker, a real estate services firm that has expanded into at-home salon services, carpentry, and AC repair — similar to Urban Company’s offerings.
Abhiraj Singh Bhal, CEO and co-founder of Urban Company, said, “We are very excited to partner with Dharana Capital and have Vamsi Duvvuri join our board of directors. Vamsi has been a strong partner to Urban Company for a long time, and we look forward to working with him even more closely in the future.”
The platform, which connects gig workers with home services, has 57,000 active service partners per month. Urban Company was last valued at $2.1 billion after raising $255 million in June 2021.