Indian home services upstart Urban Company made a splashing public market debut on the stock exchanges today, listing at nearly 60% premium. The stock opened at ₹161 per share on the BSE, compared to its IPO price of ₹103, marking a premium of 56.3%. On the NSE, the stock listed at ₹162.25, a premium of 57.5%. Shares later touched an intraday high of ₹179 before stabilizing near the listing price. This comes a week after the firm found its ₹1900-crore IPO to be the most subscribed Indian listing this year.
The ₹1,900 crore IPO, which was open for subscription between September 10 and 12, witnessed overwhelming demand, being subscribed 103.6 times overall. The retail category was subscribed to 39.3 times, non-institutional investors 74 times, and qualified institutional buyers over 140 times. The strong appetite reflected the stock’s grey market premium (GMP), which had surged from ₹10 at launch to as high as ₹70 before moderating to ₹51.
Urban Company’s strong debut comes against the backdrop of a rare profitable showing among new-age Indian tech firms. For the year ending March, the company reported revenue of ₹910 crore, marking a 32.4% increase year-over-year, and a net profit of ₹290 crore — a nearly 2,691% increase compared to the previous year. The company plans to use proceeds from the fresh issuance for technology development, cloud infrastructure, lease payments, marketing, and general corporate purposes.
Founded in 2014 by Abhiraj Bhal, Raghav Chandra, and Varun Khaitan, Urban Company began as UrbanClap, an on-demand services marketplace connecting users to professionals across categories like home cleaning, beauty, repairs, and fitness training. The company rebranded to Urban Company in 2020, and since then, has successfully ventured into launching its own smart home products. Over the years, it has expanded operations to international markets including the UAE, Singapore, and Australia. Urban Company has raised more than $500 million from prominent investors such as Tiger Global, Prosus Ventures, and Vy Capital, achieving unicorn status in 2021.
The company’s growth comes at a time when the domestic organized home services market (which has been expanded in recent years) is expected to be valued at ₹8,350 billion by 2029. Rising urbanization, higher disposable incomes, and the increasing acceptance of digital platforms for everyday needs are fueling this trend. Unlike the highly fragmented, unorganized sector, Urban Company’s platform offers standardized pricing, trained professionals, and cashless payments, giving it an advantage in winning consumer trust.
Investor confidence was also bolstered by marquee anchor investors who committed ₹854 crore ahead of the IPO, including SBI Funds, Monetary Authority of Singapore, HDFC MF, Fidelity Securities, Nomura, ICICI Prudential Life, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and SBI Life. Following the listing, the company’s market capitalization stood at ₹23,118 crore. “Given the strong subscription and prevailing market sentiment, we expect listing gains in the range of 40–50 percent or higher, depending on conditions on listing day. Beyond the immediate upside, Urban Company represents a long-term story in the home services segment. We advise allotted investors to hold the stock, while non-allottees should adopt a ‘wait and watch’ approach,” said Prashanth Tapse, Senior Vice President (Research) at Mehta Equities.