UrbanClap, a marketplace for home services, has raised $25 million (Rs.165 crore) in a Series B round of funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners with the participation of existing investors including Accel Partners and Saif Partners. Earlier this year, UrbanClap had raised $12 million over two rounds from Saif and Accel Partners.
Founded in 2014, Gurgaon-based UrbanClap has raised a total of about $37 million in three rounds so far.
UrbanClap, a mobile marketplace for services, offers a range of services staff that includes plumbers, beauticians, yoga trainers and even wedding photographers. Under its model until now, UrbanClap charged 10-20% from the customer, but nothing from the service provider; going forward, however, it will reverse this existing model.
The freshly raised funds will be used by the startup to make strategic acquisitions, and to strengthen its leadership position in the space, including an expansion drive in other major cities. By next year, the company plans to have more than 100,000 professionals on the platform - it currently has 20,000 registered service providers - and serve over 100,000 customers daily, up from 5,000 currently.
The startup currently offers services in more than 75 categories across Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai and Pune and the company plans to extend its offering to 25 cities and 100 categories over the next one year.
The startup was founded by Raghav Chandra (ex-Twitter executive), Varun Khaitan (IIT-Kanpur alumnus) and Abhiraj Singh Bhal.
UrbanClap claims that its average ticket size of around Rs.3,000-4,000 and increasing demand will help the company break even by the end of 2016. It has generated $15 million in GMV (gross merchandise value) till date, according to Varun Khaitan, co-founder at UrbanClap.
Urbanclap faces direct competition from similar players in market like Zimmber, Housejoy, Helpi and likes.
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