Urban Company, wednesday saw the introduction of a line of water purifiers under the Native brand by the home services platform Urban Company. It will be up against companies like Kent RO Systems and Hindustan Unilever (Pureit).
“We have serviced and repaired over a million water purifiers in the last few years. The frequent need for filter replacement and maintenance on water purifiers is a complaint we frequently hear from consumers. With a new line of Native water purifiers, we choose to tackle this issue head-on, according to Abhiraj Singh Bhal, co-founder and CEO of Urban Company.
We’ve fixed and maintained more than a million water purifiers in the last few years. Why water purifiers require servicing and filter changes every few months is a complaint we frequently hear from clients. As co-founder and CEO of Urban Company, Abhiraj Singh Bhal remarked, “We made the decision to tackle this issue head-on with a new series of Native water purifiers.
According to Bhal, it also plans to introduce smart door-lock systems.
Through its app, Urban Company serves as a marketplace for household services such as cleaning, plumbing, and appliance repair. In addition to the UAE, Singapore, and Saudi Arabia, it runs in more than 50 Indian cities. “We aim to shortly make an announcement regarding a joint venture for the Saudi market. Saudi Arabia’s Kingdom has a lot of promise. We will need a strong local partner who is knowledgeable about the market, cultural quirks, and customer needs in order to do justice,” Bhal said. The business left Australia.
While losses decreased from 514 crore to 308 crore, operating revenue increased by 45% from the prior year to 637 crore in FY23. In the first quarter of FY24, the India division of Urban Company reported a profit.
In an article published on its website in August, the business said, “We made meaningful progress in improving profitability driven by operational leverage in fixed costs and driving efficiency across other costs.”
Dr. Ashish Gupta, Ireena Vittal, and Shyamal Mukherjee were three new independent board members who were added.
Urban Company raised $255 million in 2021 at a $2.1 billion value.
The company is currently well-capitalized, according to Bhal. We have a ton of capital—more than $160 million—and we hardly ever run out of money. You may be aware that we stated the India business achieved a profit during the first quarter of this fiscal year. India will now operate close to breaking even and eventually earn income. Thus, Urban Company India doesn’t actually require much in the way of funding. 90% of our business comes from India. The majority of the money is actually moving to foreign markets, he claimed.
Bhal also stated in 2021 that it would make its intentions public by 2023. The company’s intentions for an IPO, however, were kept a secret. We definitely intend to go public. Internal readiness has an impact on it. In addition to hiring three independent directors last year, we have already begun putting certain barriers in place. Along with sound governance, increased attention to preparation, and internal controls, we want that to happen far before the public listing. But we want to go public once we are sure of ourselves, internally ready, and lucrative,” he continued.
