Flipkart CEO invests Rs 1.6 crore in UrbanClap

The hyperlocal marketplace UrbanClap has got another high-profile investor.

Kalyan Krishnamurthy, the CEO of Walmart-owned e-commerce giant Flipkart, has invested Rs 1.6 crore in the Gurugram-based, four and a half-year-old startup.

UrbanClap, which is backed by Ratan Tata, SAIF Partners, Accel Partners and Bessemer Venture Partners, raised USD 50 million in Series D round led by Steadview Capital and Vy Capital.

A YourStory report said the company’s recent valuation is around USD 480 million and the price per share for this round stood at Rs 51,552 for a total of 310 equity shares as per filings with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

Founded in 2014 by Abhiraj Bhal, Varun Khaitan and Raghav Chandra, UrbanClap currently provides a bouquet of home services ranging from cleaning and repairing to skin care and wedding make-up in 12 Indian cities. It also operates in Dubai.

Krishnamurthy joined Flipkart in mid-2016 as the head of the category design organisation after working with Tiger Global Management for five and a half years. He became Flipkart's CEO in January 2017.

Krishnamurthy is known for backing early-stage companies. He has in the past, invested in startups such as home rental venture Nestaway, wellness chain Cure.fit and e-commerce player Moglix.

“We have a mission to create more than one million micro-entrepreneurs for India and other emerging markets. Today, approximately 15,000 service professionals earn their livelihood through the UrbanClap platform,” Chandra told YourStory in a recent interview, adding that the company would like to grow 100 times that number over the next 5 years.

"This will require strong execution, and ahead of the curve investments into our technology platform and operational leadership," Chandra said.

The company directly competes with Amazon-backed Housejoy. The Bengaluru-based company laid off 40 employees last year and shut down a few categories that yielded low-profit.

In 2017, Quikr acquired a Bengaluru-based home services startup Zimmber for USD 10 million. Other players in this space include UrbanPro and Mr. Right Services.