Home services marketplace UrbanClap to deepen presence in UAE

UrbanClap, a Delhi-headquartered online marketplace for home services, has announced its expansion to Abu Dhabi. This will be its second port of call in the United Arab Emirates after launching operations in Dubai in April last year. 

The startup said in a statement that it will kick off operations with a category of 20 service providers in Abu Dhabi. It also has plans of expanding to other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries over the coming months.

Founded in 2014 by Abhiraj Bhal, Raghav Chandra and Varun Khaitan, UrbanClap offers services across multiple categories including salon and beauty, cleaning, appliance repair, among others. The company has a presence across 10 Indian cities and employs close to 20,000 service professionals.

“We are ecstatic about the expansion of UrbanClap’s footprint in the UAE by entering Abu Dhabi. With the capital city being a consumer heavy market and willing to lookout for quality home services - the decision is the right move towards further expansion in UAE,” said Bhal.

UrbanClap had raised Rs 348 crore ($50 million) in its Series D round led by Hong Kong-based hedge fund Steadview Capital and existing investor Vy Capital in November last year, and an additional Rs 1.6 crore from Flipkart Group chief executive Kalyan Krishnamurthy as part of the round.

UrbanClap’s main rivals in India are Matrix Partners-backed Housejoy as well as online classified services provider Quikr in certain segments.