Varun Khaitan, co-founder and COO of Urban Company, helped build the technology-enabled home-services marketplace and leads business operations across India and international markets.
Varun Khaitan co-founded Urban Company and helped build its home-services marketplace. Explore his career, funding, IPO, profitability and growth strategy.
Written by TFN Research Desk | covering startups, technology, venture capital, and business strategy.
Table of Contents
- Who is Varun Khaitan?
- Early Life and Education
- Career Before Urban Company
- How Urban Company Started
- Funding History
- Revenue Growth and Recent Developments
- Urban Company’s IPO Journey
- Urban Company vs Competitors
- Investor Perspective
- Founder Timeline
- Key Takeaways
- FAQs
- The Take Nobody In The Industry Wants To Say Out Loud
- Sources
Who is Varun Khaitan?
Varun Khaitan is the Co-founder, Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of Urban Company, formerly known as UrbanClap. He co-founded the company in 2014 with Abhiraj Singh Bhal and Raghav Chandra. Khaitan oversees business operations across Urban Company’s services and products businesses in India and overseas, and has been associated with the company since December 2014.
Early Life and Education
Khaitan holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from IIT Kanpur. He received the Ratan Swarup Memorial Prize from IIT Kanpur in 2009 and later received the institute’s Young Alumnus Award in 2021.
His education provided a technical foundation, but his career before entrepreneurship also exposed him to consulting and large-scale technology businesses. That combination became useful when Urban Company began building a technology-driven marketplace for home services.
Career Before Urban Company
Before Urban Company, Khaitan was associated with Qualcomm and The Boston Consulting Group. His experience across technology and consulting gave him exposure to product development, business strategy and operational decision-making.
The experience also gave him an understanding of how technology could be applied to fragmented offline markets. Home services were still largely dependent on local recommendations and informal networks, creating an opportunity for a platform that could standardise discovery, booking and service quality.
How Urban Company Started
Khaitan co-founded Urban Company in 2014 with Abhiraj Bhal and Raghav Chandra. The company originally operated under the UrbanClap name before rebranding as Urban Company in 2020.
The founders built a marketplace connecting consumers with professionals for services such as cleaning, beauty treatments, repairs and home maintenance. Instead of simply listing service providers, Urban Company attempted to control more of the customer experience through professional onboarding, training, standardised pricing and technology.
Khaitan became responsible for operations, helping the company scale its service network while maintaining consistency across categories and geographies. Urban Company later expanded internationally and added its own products business under the Native brand.
Funding History
| Round | Year | Amount | Lead Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Series F | 2021 | $190 million | Prosus Ventures, Dragoneer and others |
| Total equity raised by 2021 | 2021 | Approximately $370 million | Multiple institutional investors |
| IPO | 2025 | ₹1,900 crore | Public investors |
Urban Company raised $190 million in a 2021 funding round that pushed its valuation to approximately $2 billion. By then, the company had raised around $370 million in equity capital across funding rounds from investors including Prosus, Elevation Capital, Accel and Bessemer.
The company later moved toward the public markets, with its 2025 IPO comprising a ₹472 crore fresh issue and ₹1,428 crore offer for sale.
Revenue Growth and Recent Developments
| Fiscal Year | Revenue | Net Profit/Loss |
|---|---|---|
| FY25 | ₹1,144 crore | ₹240 crore profit |
| Q1 FY27 | Not directly comparable | Adjusted EBITDA loss of ₹65 crore |
FY25 was a significant milestone for Urban Company. The company reported ₹1,144 crore in revenue and ₹240 crore in net profit, marking its first full year of profitability.
The company has continued investing in its services and Native products business. In July 2026, Urban Company reported 44% revenue growth for the quarter, while Native’s net revenue grew 60% year on year to ₹95 crore.
Urban Company’s IPO Journey
Urban Company opened its ₹1,900 crore IPO in September 2025 and subsequently became a publicly listed company. The IPO valued the company at approximately ₹15,000 crore at the upper end of the price band.
The listing generated substantial investor interest. On its first trading day, Urban Company’s shares closed around 64% above the IPO price, pushing its market capitalisation above ₹25,000 crore during the session.
Khaitan and the other founders also sold portions of their holdings through secondary transactions before the IPO.
Urban Company vs Competitors
| Company | Founded | Positioning |
|---|---|---|
| Urban Company | 2014 | Technology-led home services |
| Housejoy | 2015 | Home construction and services |
| NoBroker | 2014 | Property and home services |
| Justdial | 1996 | Local business discovery |
Urban Company’s key difference is the amount of control it attempts to maintain over service quality. The company combines marketplace technology with training, pricing, service standards and customer support.
That approach is harder to scale than a simple listing platform, but it can create greater trust between consumers and service professionals.
Investor Perspective
Khaitan’s strongest qualification is his combination of technology, consulting and operational experience. His role has focused on turning Urban Company’s marketplace into a repeatable operating system rather than simply growing the number of service providers.
The company’s profitability and successful public listing provide evidence that the model can work at significant scale. Its expansion into international markets and Native products also gives Urban Company additional growth opportunities.
The biggest risk is operational complexity. Every additional category and geography creates another layer of training, quality control and customer-service challenges. Native also puts Urban Company into a different competitive environment, where product development and manufacturing matter as much as marketplace execution.
Khaitan’s challenge is therefore to keep the core services business efficient while ensuring that new businesses do not dilute the company’s focus.
Founder Timeline
- 2009: Receives the Ratan Swarup Memorial Prize from IIT Kanpur.
- Before 2014: Works with Qualcomm and The Boston Consulting Group.
- 2014: Co-founds UrbanClap with Abhiraj Bhal and Raghav Chandra.
- 2020: UrbanClap rebrands as Urban Company.
- 2021: Urban Company raises $190 million and reaches approximately $2 billion valuation.
- 2021: Khaitan receives IIT Kanpur’s Young Alumnus Award.
- 2023: Urban Company launches Native water purifiers.
- 2025: Urban Company launches its IPO and becomes publicly listed.
- FY25: Company reports ₹1,144 crore revenue and ₹240 crore net profit.
- 2026: Khaitan continues as Executive Director and COO.
Key Takeaways
- Varun Khaitan co-founded Urban Company with Abhiraj Bhal and Raghav Chandra.
- He currently serves as Executive Director and COO.
- His responsibilities cover operations across Urban Company’s services and products businesses.
- Urban Company became publicly listed in 2025.
- FY25 marked the company’s first full year of profitability.
FAQs
Who founded Urban Company?
Varun Khaitan, Abhiraj Singh Bhal and Raghav Chandra co-founded Urban Company in 2014.
What is Varun Khaitan’s current role?
He is Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of Urban Company.
When was Urban Company founded?
The company was founded in 2014 as UrbanClap and later rebranded as Urban Company in 2020.
Where did Varun Khaitan study?
He studied Electrical Engineering at IIT Kanpur.
Where did Varun Khaitan work before Urban Company?
He previously worked with Qualcomm and The Boston Consulting Group.
How much funding did Urban Company raise?
The company had raised approximately $370 million in equity capital by 2021, including a $190 million round that valued it at around $2 billion.
Is Urban Company profitable?
Yes. Urban Company reported ₹240 crore net profit on ₹1,144 crore revenue in FY25.
Is Urban Company publicly listed?
Yes. Urban Company completed its IPO and began trading publicly in September 2025.
What is Urban Company’s Native business?
Native is Urban Company’s consumer-products business, which includes products such as water purifiers and other home-related products.
What is Varun Khaitan’s net worth?
His current personal net worth is not publicly disclosed.
What awards has Varun Khaitan received?
He has been recognised by Forbes’ 30 Under 30, Fortune’s 40 Under 40 and Economic Times’ 40 Under 40. He also received IIT Kanpur’s Young Alumnus Award in 2021.
The Take Nobody In The Industry Wants To Say Out Loud
Our editors weigh in.
Varun Khaitan’s real contribution to Urban Company is operational rather than theatrical. While the company’s consumer-facing story is about convenience, the difficult part has always been building enough operational discipline behind that convenience to make the marketplace work repeatedly. That is where Khaitan’s role matters. But becoming a public company changes the standard. Investors will no longer judge Urban Company only by user growth or expansion into new categories. They will look closely at margins, cash generation and whether newer businesses such as Native can justify the capital being invested in them. Urban Company’s first full year of profitability is a strong starting point, but maintaining profitable growth will be harder than achieving it once. Khaitan’s next test is making the operating model more efficient without sacrificing the service quality that made Urban Company different from ordinary local-service marketplaces.
Sources
- Urban Company, Varun Khaitan Official Profile
Urban Company Investor Relations: Varun Khaitan - Urban Company, Governance and Founders
Urban Company Governance - Urban Company, Company History and Leadership
Urban Company Careers and Company History - Economic Times, Urban Company Funding and $2 Billion Valuation
Economic Times: Urban Company Raises $190 Million - Economic Times, Urban Company Pre-IPO Transactions
Economic Times: Founders Sell ₹780 Crore of Shares - Economic Times, Urban Company IPO and FY25 Financials
Economic Times: Urban Company ₹1,900 Crore IPO - Economic Times, Urban Company IPO Listing
Economic Times: Urban Company’s Listing Gains - Urban Company, Q1 FY27 Results
Urban Company Investor Relations: Q1 FY27 Results
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