UrbanClap is a marketplace that enables users to find and hire verified service providers like plumbers, beauticians, yoga trainers and wedding photographers

Gurgaon-headquartered online local services startup UrbanClap has secured US$21 million in fresh round of funding led by Dubai-based VC firm Vy Capital, with participation from existing investors SAIF Partners, Accel Partners and Bessemer Venture Partners.

The new round comes almost a year and half later the startup grabbed US$25 million in Series B round of funding led by Bessemer with participation from SAIF Partners and Accel Partners. This was followed by an investment from business tycoon Ratan Tata in December 2015 and US$3.1 million in debt investment from Trifecta Capital in May this year.

Also Read: He looks 19, talks like he’s 40 and now co-owns Tata-backed UrbanClap at 25

The latest financing will be used to expand to new cities, invest in technology and add new vendors, said a Mint report citing UrbanClap founder Abhiraj Bhal. “The new round of capital gives us the elbow room to invest in core areas of our business such as supply on-boarding at scale, training, building spares and parts inventory, etc. This will help us firmly cement our market leadership position,” Bhal added.

Started in October 2014 by Bhal, Varun Khaitan and Raghav Chandra, UrbanClap enables users to find and hire verified service providers like plumbers, beauticians, yoga trainers and wedding photographers. It has more than 65,000 service professionals registered on the platform servicing 300,000 bookings each month. The startup has operations in eight cities, including Delhi-NCR, Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai, Pune, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Ahmedabad.

According to Bhal, UrbanClap is looking at a four-year road map to an initial public offering (IPO).

UrbanClap is mainly competing with Zimmber, which was recently acquired by Quikr, besides Amazon India-backed HouseJoy and Timesaverz.

In September 2016, Doormint, another player in the segment, shut shop exactly a year after it secured VC funding from two leading VCs due to huge customer acquisition cost and cash burn. In April this year, Doormint was acquired by Wassup Laundry, an on-demand laundry and dry cleaning startup in Chennai, in an equity swap with its investors.

Image Credit: andreypopov / 123RF Stock Photo

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