Instant Home Services Test Capital Depth

CA Aaditya Jain

Oct 18

4 min read

Updated: 10 minutes ago

Cover image of the Katrela Ventures Daily Update for 18 October 2026: Instant Home Services Test Capital Depth

Katrela Ventures Daily Update · Investment, M&A and Business Innovation Digest · 18 October 2026

Key takeaways

Urban Company's board approved a fresh capital raise of up to ₹2,500 crore, subject to shareholder approval.
InstaHelp handled 6.2 million orders in Q2 FY27 with a ₹174 crore adjusted EBITDA loss, competing with Snabbit and Pronto.
RBI approved the merger of Emirates NBD's India branches into RBL Bank; Burma Burma operator Hunger Pangs filed its draft IPO papers.

Stay ahead with the latest funding rounds, strategic acquisitions, and groundbreaking innovations shaping the business world!

📩 #Read the full update below.

01. TOP STORIES

RBI Approves Merger of Emirates NBD's India Branches into RBL Bank: The Reserve Bank of India has sanctioned the amalgamation of Emirates NBD Bank PJSC's three Indian branches, in Mumbai, Chennai and Gurugram, with RBL Bank, effective 1 December 2026. Emirates NBD completed its acquisition of 60% of RBL Bank's expanded share capital in June 2026 through a primary capital infusion of about $2.75 billion (around ₹26,000 crore).

Burma Burma Operator Hunger Pangs Files Draft Papers for IPO: Hunger Pangs, which runs the Burma Burma restaurant chain, filed its draft red herring prospectus with SEBI on 16 October for an IPO comprising a fresh issue of up to ₹150 crore and an offer for sale of up to 2.79 crore shares. The company, which operated 22 restaurants across nine cities as of 31 July 2026, plans to use the fresh proceeds mainly to open new restaurants.

02. QUICK TAKES

Instant Home Services Test Capital Depth

Urban Company's board has approved a fresh capital raise of up to ₹2,500 crore, subject to shareholder approval, alongside its Q2 FY27 (July–September 2026) results on 16 October. According to Inc42, the company may use equity shares, warrants or convertible instruments through a preferential allotment, private placement or qualified institutional placement (QIP), with pricing and structure yet to be decided. The proposal comes as InstaHelp, its instant household-services business, competes with Snabbit and Pronto.

The core business continues to grow. Consolidated net transaction value (NTV) rose 39% year-on-year to ₹1,432 crore, and revenue from operations rose 41% to ₹537 crore. Adjusted EBITDA was a loss of ₹144 crore, which the company attributes to a ₹174 crore investment in InstaHelp. Excluding InstaHelp, adjusted EBITDA was ₹30 crore, up 213% year-on-year. Within this, India consumer services excluding InstaHelp grew NTV 26.3% to ₹963 crore with adjusted EBITDA of ₹34 crore, or 3.5% of NTV, while international NTV grew 66% to ₹267 crore.

InstaHelp is scaling quickly from a small base. It fulfilled 6.2 million orders in the quarter, up 63% quarter-on-quarter, while its NTV rose 34% quarter-on-quarter to ₹71 crore. Adjusted EBITDA loss per order narrowed to ₹279 from ₹346 in Q1 FY27, which the company attributes to network densification.

The proposed raise would add to ₹1,901 crore of cash and treasury investments held at the end of September 2026. Urban Company says it remains on track for adjusted EBITDA breakeven by Q3 FY28 and adjusted EBITDA of ₹1,000 crore by FY31. The company says the funds are intended for its three businesses, InstaHelp and selective inorganic opportunities.

The numbers also show the cost of building a new category. InstaHelp's ₹174 crore quarterly loss was nearly six times the ₹30 crore adjusted EBITDA generated by the rest of the business, and its loss per order remains above its net order value, which declined to ₹114 from ₹138 as the company cited competitive intensity and introductory pricing for new users. Competition, pricing and service-partner availability will influence how quickly that gap narrows, and the raise itself still requires shareholder approval.

Katrela's Take

➢The proposed raise shows a listed consumer-services company funding a new category while its core business remains adjusted-EBITDA positive. For founders and investors in on-demand services, the distinction that matters is between order growth and unit economics: InstaHelp's orders are rising quickly, while its loss per order is still higher than its order value. Loss per order, order density per locality, net order value and the share of group profitability absorbed by new businesses will decide the outcome. The final size, pricing and structure of the raise will also indicate how public-market investors view this phase of investment.

03. FUNDING BRIEF

Battery Smart-an EV battery-swapping network for two- and three-wheelers-has raised about ₹98 crore ($10.3 million approx.) from existing investor Ecosystem Integrity Fund as a top-up to its Series C round, according to regulatory filings reported by Entrackr.

Shamrock AI-a Shillong-based platform that helps enterprises deploy and run AI agents reliably-has raised $5 million (₹47.5 crore approx.) in a seed round led by Endiya Partners, with participation from Capria Ventures.

Raising growth capital or preparing for a listing? Katrela Ventures runs investment-readiness reviews — DM us.

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Frequently asked questions

How much capital is Urban Company planning to raise?

Up to ₹2,500 crore, subject to shareholder approval, possibly through equity shares, warrants or convertible instruments via preferential allotment, private placement or QIP.

Is InstaHelp profitable?

Not yet. InstaHelp reported an adjusted EBITDA loss of ₹174 crore on 6.2 million orders in Q2 FY27, and its loss per order is still higher than its order value.

Which metrics matter in on-demand home services?

Katrela Ventures highlights loss per order, order density per locality, net order value and the share of group profitability absorbed by new businesses.

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