The story of Urban Company's Co-Founder, Raghav Chandra
The journey of Urban Company (formerly UrbanClap) is not just about building Asia's largest home services marketplace; it is the story of three individuals, Abhiraj Singh Bhal, Varun Khaitan, and Raghav Chandra, who dared to reimagine an industry most had ignored. Let's know about the journey of Ranghav Chandra.
Raghav Chandra is the third co-founder of the Urban Company. He joined the other two founders later. While Abhiraj and Varun brought consulting and strategy expertise, Raghav Chandra brought the critical piece of the puzzle, technology.
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Raghav Chandra's Education
Raghhav Chandra completed his schooling at Swaraj India Public School. He was always interested in physics and computers. He earned his Bachelor's degree in Computer Science & Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.
First Venture
Raghav had already tasted entrepreneurship with his first auto-rickshaw aggregator startup, Buggy, in, in 2013. Buggi was a dynamic peer-to-peer auto-rickshaw ride-sharing platform. It aimed to deliver an “auto-at-your-doorstep" experience by acting as both coordinator and scheduler. Staying true to the entrepreneurial spirit of auto-rickshaw drivers, Buggi adopted an open marketplace model, allowing drivers the freedom to accept or reject ride requests. It further mirrored the industry's real transactional nature by enabling drivers to quote custom fares or bargain, ensuring both flexibility and fairness in operations.
Although Buggi eventually shut down, the lessons Raghav carried from it became invaluable stepping stones in shaping Urban Company's vision and execution.
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It was during this period, in early 2014, that Raghav crossed paths with Abhiraj Singh Bhal and Varun Khaitan, two IIT-Kanpur graduates and friends who had just shut down their first venture, Cinema Box (a service that allowed travellers to stream movies via Wi-Fi on buses, trains, and flights).
Introduced through a mutual friend, the three instantly connected. Each had tasted failure, but more importantly, each shared an unwavering hunger to build something impactful. When conversations turned to the home services market, they found common ground.
Second Venture: The birth of Urban Company
After the first startup failure, he joined Abhiraj and Varun, who were already thinking about UrbanClap. All three had already experienced the taste of entrepreneurship. They found common ground. Raghav took charge of building the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) for UrbanClap. The trio launched UrbanClap in October 2014 in Delhi, fuelled by a shared belief: that India's local services industry, plagued by unreliability and intermediaries, could be organised with technology. Their first users came from Facebook groups and friends, validating the idea that customers craved trust and convenience.
They personally scouted plumbers, beauticians, and photographers, onboarding them to the platform. Raghav's expertise lay in designing algorithms that could match customers with vetted professionals, a system that still powers Urban Company today.
For Raghav, Urban Company became the true realisation of his entrepreneurial dreams. What started as a failed experiment with Buggi transformed into a revolutionary platform empowering professionals across India and other countries, serving thousands of customers daily. His journey reflects the essence of entrepreneurship to learn from failures, adapt quickly, and never stop innovating.
Raghav often credits his father as his oldest and greatest friend and pillar of support. He recalls how his father stood by him during his first startup, even travelling for days to help with hiring and operations, sharing in the burden and stress of building something from scratch.
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Urban Company's Growth and Revenue
Urban Company has rapidly transformed from a modest startup into a global leader in home services. Within just a few years of its inception, the company expanded across major Indian cities and successfully entered international markets such as Dubai, Australia, Singapore, and the UAE. In 2020, it rebranded from UrbanClap to Urban Company, reflecting its global presence and broadened service portfolio (The word clap was not considered good in some cultures).
By 2021, the company had achieved profitability in India, a rare milestone for startups at such an early stage. Its focus on empowering service partners through training programs, health and life insurance, financial support, and fair earnings has built a loyal partner ecosystem and ensured consistent service quality across geographies.
Financially, Urban Company has showcased impressive performance. According to reports, the company recorded revenue of ₹1,144.5 crore in FY25, marking a strong 38% year-on-year growth. It also turned profitable, reporting a net profit of ₹240 crore, aided by a deferred tax credit of ₹211 crore. On a pre-tax basis, profits stood at ₹28 crore, underlining the company's operational efficiency and sustainable growth trajectory.
Urban Company IPO
Urban Company has opened its ₹1,900 crore IPO, priced in the range of ₹98 to ₹103 per share. The issue consists of two parts: a fresh issue of 45.8 million equity shares valued at ₹472 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of up to 138.6 million shares, amounting to ₹1,428 crore, where existing investors are offloading their stakes. The IPO Opening Date is September 9, 2025, and its Closing Date is September 12, 2025.
Also Read: The story of Urban Company's co-founder Varun Khaitan