Urban Company DRHP: A Look At The Shareholding Pattern & Key Leaders

Consumer services unicorn Urban Company has filed its draft papers with the capital markets regulator SEBI on Monday (April 28) to raise INR 1,900 Cr through an initial public offering (IPO).

As per its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP), the company plans to raise INR 429 Cr via fresh issue of shares, marking a nearly 19% cut from the limit earlier approved by its board. Meanwhile, existing investors intend to offload stakes worth INR 1,471 Cr through an Offer for Sale (OFS).

Of the fresh proceeds, Urban Company plans to deploy INR 190 Cr towards new technology development and cloud infrastructure. Besides this, INR 70 Cr will go towards lease payments for office spaces and INR 80 Cr will be used for marketing and brand-building activities.

Among existing investors, Accel will sell shares worth INR 433 Cr, followed by Elevation Capital and Tiger Global offloading stakes worth INR 346 Cr and INR 303 Cr, respectively.

Ahead of the IPO, the company’s cofounders, Abhiraj Bhal, Varun Khaitan and Raghav Chandra, had cumulatively sold shares worth INR 779.08 Cr in secondary transactions between September 2024 and March 2025, with each founder divesting shares worth INR 259 Cr. Despite this, the trio jointly own 20.1% of the company.

The buyers in these secondary deals included existing backers such as Prosus Ventures, Think Investments, Dharana Capital, SailThru Ventures, Swiggy cofounder and CEO Sriharsha Majety, and former ITC executive Sanjiv Rangrass.

On the financial front, Urban Company reported a profit before tax of, a turnaround from a pre-tax loss of INR 57.8 Cr in the same period last year.

However, the company is facing tax-related challenges, after being slapped with GST demand notices totalling INR 51.25 Cr from authorities in Maharashtra, Haryana and Tamil Nadu.

With this filing, Urban Company joins the growing list of new-age tech startups eyeing to enter Dalal Street this year. Over 20 such companies are expected to list this year, with Ather Energy likely to be the first to hit the bourses.

Others like BlueStone and Aye Finance have already received SEBI’s approval, while PhysicsWallah and boAt have filed their DRHPs lately.

The zeal in the public listing parade by these companies this year is further reinforced by the fact that the 13 startups that entered the bourses last year received overwhelming responses from their investors.

Moreover, the Indian benchmark indices also seem to be recovering after witnessing a slowdown since September last year and collapsing on April 7 this year, led by the US’s retaliatory tariffs.

IPO-Bound Urban Company’s Cap Table

The shareholding breakup of Urban Company shows that the promoter group, which includes cofounders Abhiraj Bhal, Varun Khaitan and Raghav Chandra, holds 20.01% of the total cap table with each founder holding a 6.7% stake.

The remaining 79.99% ownership lies with public shareholders, primarily including institutional investors.

Elevation Capital is the largest shareholder in Urban Company, holding 10.84% equity via Elevation Capital V Limited on a fully diluted basis as of the date of this draft red herring prospectus.

Following Elevation, Accel India and VYC11 Limited hold the next largest stakes, owning 10.51% and 9.18, respectively.

Prosus-owned Naspers Ventures and Steadview Capital Management’s subsidiary, Steadview Capital Mauritius Limited, each hold a significant 6.8% stake in the company.

Tiger Global, through its VC fund Internet Fund V, holds a 4.73% stake, while American VC and private equity firm Bessemer Venture Partners, through Bessemer India Capital Holdings II Ltd, owns a 6.46% stake.

Other institutional investors like Think Investments PCC, Aarohi Investments, Aditya Birla Capital, and others account for the remaining 22.9% % stake in the company.

Urban Company’s Top Deck

Board Members

Abhiraj Singh Bhal: Abhiraj Singh Bhal is the chairperson, managing director and the chief executive of Urban Company. Bhal has been associated with the startup since its inception in 2014.

He is also the chairperson of the Confederation of Indian Industry’s Unicorn Forum and a member of the National Startup Advisory Council. He was previously associated with the Boston Consulting Group and has over 13 years of experience.

Bhal holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur and a postgraduate diploma in management from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad.

Raghav Chandra: Raghav Chandra is the executive director and chief technology and product officer of Urban Company. He is also a founding member of the startup.

Chandra is responsible for product technology, design and automation at Urban Company. He has more than 10 years of experience and was previously associated with X (erstwhile Twitter).

He holds a bachelor’s degree in science from the University of California, Berkeley.

Varun Khaitan: Varun Khaitan is the executive director and chief operating officer of Urban Company. He has been associated with the company since December 22, 2014. He looks after the company’s business operations across the services and products business in India and overseas.

Khaitan has more than 10 years of experience and was earlier associated with Qualcomm Incorporated and the Boston Consulting Group.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from IIT, Kanpur

Vamsi Krishna Duvvuri: Vamsi Krishna Duvvuri is a non-executive nominee director of Urban Company. He has been associated with the company since September 10, 2024.

Duvvuri is also a founder and managing partner at Dharana Capital, an entity managed by VY Capital Management Company Limited. He has over 12 years of experience and was previously associated with Religare Capital Markets Limited and VY Capital.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science and engineering from IIT, Kanpur and a post graduate diploma in management from IIM, Ahmedabad.

Ashish Gupta: Ashish Gupta is an independent director of Urban Company, associated with it since March 1, 2022. He holds a degree of bachelor of technology in computer science and engineering from IIT, Kanpur.

Gupta was previously associated with Tavant Technologies, Gupshup and Helion Advisors Private Limited. He has also been serving as an independent director on the board of Info Edge (India) Limited since 2017 and has over 23 years of experience.

He is also a doctor of philosophy in computer science from the Leland Stanford Junior University, California.

Ireena Vittal: Ireena Vittal is an independent director of Urban Company who has been associated with it since April 20, 2022.

She is currently on the boards of Maruti Suzuki India Limited, Asian Paints Limited, Foundation to Educate Girls Globally, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, 281 Jal Seva Charitable Foundation and Diageo PLC.

She was previously associated with Wipro Limited and with McKinsey & Co. and is an alumna of Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta.

Rajesh Gopinathan: Rajesh Gopinathan is an independent director of Urban Company associated with it since August 1, 2024.

He was previously associated with Tata Consultancy Services as chief executive officer and managing director. Currently, he is a professor of practice at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay and has over 24 years of experience.

Gopinathan holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical and electronics engineering from the Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli and a post graduate diploma in management from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

Shyamal Mukherjee: Shyamal Mukherjee is an independent director of Urban Company and has been associated since March 1, 2022. He is also registered with the Bar Council of Delhi.

With over 32 years of experience, Mukherjee was earlier associated with PricewaterhouseCoopers Private Limited as chairman. He holds a bachelor’s degree in commerce from the University of Delhi.

People At Managerial Role

Abhay Krishna Mathur: Abhay Krishna Mathur is the chief financial officer of Urban Company who looks after its finance and administration functions.

He is also a fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

Prior to joining the consumer services unicorn in 2020, Mathur was associated with Hindustan Unilever Limited and Kimberly-Clark Lever.

Sonali Singh: Sonali Singh is the company secretary and compliance officer of Urban Company.

Associated since March 2024, she is currently responsible for ensuring managerial, secretarial and regulatory compliances of the company. She is also an associate of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India.

Singh was previously associated with One97 Communications Limited, State Bank of India and InterGlobe Aviation Limited. She holds a bachelor’s degree in commerce from the University of Delhi and a bachelor’s degree in law from Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Meerut.

Mukund Kulashekaran: Mukund Kulashekaran is the chief business officer, India at Urban Company since January 2022.

He is responsible for the company’s consumer services business in India and joined it in July 2018.

Prior to joining Urban Company, he was associated with ITC Limited, Boston Consulting Group (India) Private Limited and Zomato Limited.

Kulashekaran holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science and engineering from the Regional Engineering College, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu and a master’s degree in business administration and management from the Amos Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.

Neha Mathur: Neha Mathur is the chief human resources officer of Urban Company since January 2025. She is responsible for employee engagement, organisational development, compensation and benefits, and human resource transformation.

She has been associated with Urban Company since April 2021.

Mathur was earlier associated with the Coca-Cola Company, Reckitt Benckiser (India) Limited, Accenture India Private Limited, GE India Industrial Private Limited and Uber India Systems Private Limited.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in business studies from College of Business Studies, University of Delhi and a master’s degree in personnel management and industrial relations from Tata Institute of Social Sciences.

Kanav Arora: Kanav Arora is the senior vice president engineering of our Company since October, 2020. He is in charge of technology strategy, platform development, user experience, process automation, infrastructure management.

Arora has been associated with the company since April 2016 and previously he had served at Microsoft, Stuph and Pocket Gems.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in science from University of California, Berkeley.

Richa Mohanty Rao: Richa Mohanty Rao is the general counsel of Urban Company since May 2023. She is responsible for corporate governance, legal compliance, risk management, contract negotiations, dispute resolution, legal operation.

Rao was earlier associated with Amarchand Mangaldas & Suresh A Shroff & Co and Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas as a partner.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in law and business administration from Symbiosis Law School, Pune.

Rahul Teotia: Rahul Teotia is the vice president (VP), marketing at Urban Company since February 2024.

Joining the company in 2019, he looks after brand strategy, digital marketing, and campaign management.

Previously, Teotia was associated with Boston Consulting Group (India) Private Limited, NTPC Limited and Rivigo Services Private Limited.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering from University of Delhi and holds a postgraduate diploma in management from the Indian Institute of Management, Indore.

Nitesh Agarwal: Nitesh Agarwal is the vice president (VP), UT DMCC at Urban Company since March 1, 2022. He has been associated with our Company since January 29, 2020.

Joining the company in 2020, he is responsible for revenue growth, market expansion, strategic planning, and business operations in the Middle East.

Prior to joining Urban Company, Agarwal was associated with Opera Solutions India Private Limited.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur and post graduate degree in management from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

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