Urban Company Eyes Fresh Fundraise A Year After IPO As InstaHelp Losses Mount

Home services company Urban Company is considering a fresh fundraise a little over a year after its stock market debut in September 2025, amid continued spending on its instant household services vertical InstaHelp.

The company’s board will meet on Friday (October 16) to consider raising funds through equity shares or securities convertible into equity shares, in one or more tranches, it said in an exchange filing.

The routes under consideration include a preferential allotment, private placement, QIP, or another legally permissible mode, or a combination of these.

Urban Company is also scheduled to release its Q2 FY27 numbers on the same day.

The fundraise proposal comes as the company continues to invest in InstaHelp amid intensifying competition from Snabbit and Pronto. The vertical’s expansion weighed on Urban Company’s profitability in FY26 and remained a drag in Q1 FY27.

InstaHelp Weighs On Profitability

Urban Company reported a consolidated net loss of ₹235 Cr in FY26, compared with a net profit of ₹240 Cr in FY25, while operating revenue grew 34% YoY to ₹1,692 Cr.

In Q1 FY27, operating revenue rose 44% YoY to ₹528 Cr, while its consolidated adjusted EBITDA loss narrowed to ₹65 Cr from ₹98 Cr in the preceding quarter. Excluding InstaHelp, the company reported an adjusted EBITDA profit of ₹67 Cr.

InstaHelp’s revenue grew 26% QoQ to about ₹11 Cr, while its adjusted EBITDA loss widened to ₹132 Cr from ₹119 Cr in Q4 FY26. However, its adjusted EBITDA loss per order narrowed to ₹346 from ₹447 over the same period.

Management has said spending on InstaHelp will remain elevated as the company seeks to strengthen its position in the category. During the Q1 FY27 earnings call, cofounder and CEO Abhiraj Singh Bhal said the vertical would continue to require investment for at least the next two years.

He also said InstaHelp was likely to remain a low-margin business compared with Urban Company’s core India consumer services operations. Management does not expect to make money from the vertical over the next five years and is working on the assumption that it will break even by FY31.

The proposed fundraise also comes while Urban Company retains a sizeable cash balance. It reported cash and treasury investments of ₹2,019 Cr as of June 30.

Separately, ₹310.83 Cr of the ₹472 Cr raised through its IPO’s fresh issue remained unutilised at the end of Q1 FY27. The proceeds were allocated towards technology and cloud infrastructure, office lease payments, marketing, general corporate purposes, and issue expenses.

Post-IPO Fundraising Gathers Pace

Urban Company’s proposed fundraise comes at a time when publicly listed new-age tech companies are increasingly tapping equity fundraise opportunities, especially QIPs, to fund further growth soon after their IPOs.

QIPs allow listed companies to offer equity shares or convertible securities directly to institutional investors like mutual funds, banks, and insurance companies. 

For instance, Kissht parent OnEMI Technology Solutions received shareholder approval to raise up to ₹832 Cr through a preferential issue, around four months after raising approximately ₹926 Cr through its IPO. 

Meanwhile, Swiggy raised ₹10,000 Cr through a QIP in December 2025, around a year after its stock market debut. Ola Electric raised ₹780 Cr through a QIP in June 2026, while Ather Energy raised ₹1,300 Cr through a QIP roughly 14 months after its IPO.

Zaggle, RateGain, Nazara have also tapped institutional investors through QIPs. Travel tech company ixigo raised around $146 Mn through a preferential issue roughly 16 months after its listing.

Ola Electric is now raising a further ₹1,000 Cr via rights issue that is set to open on October 22 for and close on October 30 at an issue price of ₹27 per share. 

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