Urban Company's Losses Widen to Rs 161 Crore in Q4 on InstaHelp Expansion

Urban Company posted a consolidated loss of Rs 161 crore for the March quarter, compared to a loss of Rs 2.8 crore in the same period last year, as the firm intensified investment in its InstaHelp instant domestic services vertical. Total income grew 40% year-on-year to Rs 462 crore, according to its shareholder letter, with the company citing aggressive spending on customer acquisition, incentives, and supply onboarding to scale the new service.

InstaHelp recorded an adjusted Ebitda loss of Rs 119 crore in Q4, as order volume surged to 2.7 million from 1.6 million in the December quarter, with demand increasingly concentrated at the neighborhood level. CEO Abhiraj Singh Bhal said the company is prioritizing market dominance over short-term profitability, noting that trust-based services are 'winner-take-all' and that controlling supply is critical to long-term success. Competitors like Pronto and Snabbit are also scaling rapidly, pushing Urban Company to maintain high spending.

Despite declining net order value to Rs 150 from Rs 172 due to discounts, customer retention and repeat usage remain strong, with the top 10% of users placing around eight orders monthly and the top 1% booking roughly 21 times a month. The company is evaluating a subscription model for InstaHelp, similar to its offerings in the UAE and Singapore, as usage patterns shift from emergency to recurring demand.

Urban Company maintained its forecast to achieve consolidated adjusted Ebitda breakeven by Q3 of FY28, even as losses mount in the instant services segment. Its core business, excluding InstaHelp, remained profitable with adjusted Ebitda rising nine-fold to Rs 106 crore in FY26.