ET Startup Awards 2025 | Startup of the Year: Strong governance, brand equity win day for this Urban Company

At-home services platform Urban Company bagged the coveted Startup of the Year 2025 award for building a category-creating business that has scaled up, become profitable and expanded beyond India, while ensuring significant customer delight.

The jury chose Urban Company from a stellar list of nominees after debating extensively the relative merits of the founding teams and the problem statements they are addressing.

On-demand logistics firm Porter, urban mobility startup Rapido and wealthtech trailblazer Groww also drew notable interest from the jury members for building a large, profitable business in a deeply complex category.

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“We are truly humbled and honoured to win the ET Startup of the Year award. When we began in 2014, our vision was simple yet ambitious — to bring trust, reliability and dignity to the home services industry,” Urban Company founder and chief executive Abhiraj Singh Bhal told ET, on being informed of the jury’s decision to award the top honours to the Gurugram-based firm.

“Over the years, this journey has grown into something far greater than building a platform. We have enabled over 50,000 service professionals to thrive as micro-entrepreneurs, while delivering seamless, high-quality experiences to millions of consumers,” Bhal added.

After a first round of discussions, in which the jurors shared their views on all the six nominees, the jury filtered down their choices to Urban Company and Rapido.

Jury member Prashanth Prakash, partner at Accel, recused himself from voting in this category as the venture capital firm is an investor in IPO-bound Urban Company. Faraz Khalid, CEO of Dubai-based ecommerce major Noon, also recused as his firm has economic interests in Urban Company.

The jury recognised Urban Company for emerging as a category creator in the home-services segment, bringing structure and professionalism to a fragmented, unorganised market. Founded in 2014 as Urbanclap, the company’s vertically integrated model made it stand out. Instead of just aggregating service providers, it trains them, supplies tools and products and sets service standards.

“Urban Company is a terrific business. A lot of us have used Rapido and Urban Company but it’s probably the only company at the table that everyone had personally used, and the experience was consistently high,” said juror Tarun Mehta, founder and CEO of electric two-wheeler maker Ather Energy. “They’ve gone international, built strong governance, created a new category, generated thousands of jobs, built a trusted brand, turned profitable, and are now heading public. What’s not to like?”

Urban Company had won at the ET Startup Awards 2021 in the Covid-led Business Transformation category. Other jurors underscored the founders’ ability to build a large business in a complex space. “When I first heard about them, and with the customer delight they offered, I immediately thought this business won’t scale up because of the complexities involved…but the fact that the founders have built it into a profitable company is a testament to the quality of this venture,” one of the jurors said during the deliberations.

Varun Khaitan, Urban Company’s founder and chief operating officer, said the award was an encouragement to keep building, innovating and creating impact at scale. “We feel especially humbled, given the outstanding companies that made it to this year’s shortlist. They are all organisations we deeply admire and look up to,” he said.

The platform, which posted revenue of Rs 1,144 crore in fiscal 2025, enables customers to order services, including cleaning, pest control, electrician, plumbing, carpentry, appliance servicing and repair, painting, skincare, hair grooming and massage therapy.

It turned profitable for the first time in FY25, reporting a Rs 240 crore net profit against a loss of 93 crore the prior year. For the next phase of growth, it is targeting products, having launched the Native brand for water purifiers and electronic smart locks.

“At our core, we still carry the DNA of a Series-A startup — restless, ambitious, and driven to create a massive positive impact for society over the next two decades,” said founder and chief product and technology officer Raghav Chandra.

“This recognition strengthens our resolve and inspires us to keep marching forward on that mission.”

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Other contenders

Rapido

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An urban mobility platform, Rapido offers ride-hailing services on two-, three- and four-wheeler vehicles. It recently launched its food delivery app Ownly in Bengaluru – targeting value-conscious customers – with plans to expand the service to other cities soon.

Meesho

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Meesho is an ecommerce marketplace that specialises in selling low-priced products. The firm sells apparel, accessories, home and kitchen goods and electronics. Known for selling unbranded products, it has also started Meesho Mall for branded goods. It is well entrenched in non-metro markets.

Groww

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Groww is a wealth tech startup that offers direct mutual funds, trading in stocks as a stockbroker and fixed income investment options like fixed deposits. It is focused on the new generation of retail traders and long-term investors who are looking for an improved user experience in trading and investments.

Porter

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Porter provides on-demand logistics services to small and medium enterprises for shorter distances with larger trucks and smaller carriage vehicles. It also operates as a marketplace connecting individual customers and small businesses to fleet operators.

PhysicsWallah

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PhysicsWallah is a test-prep company that operates on a hybrid model offering services through both online learning and offline centres. Beyond school and engineering entrance exams, PhysicsWallah also offers courses for UPSC, NEET and other government and defence job examinations.