Vy Capital’s subsidiary, Dharana Capital, has acquired $50 million in secondary shares from employees, early investors, and founders. This deal is part of a larger $63 million secondary round that also saw participation from Prosus. A significant portion of this transaction includes a $25 million ESOP buyback from employees conducted in May this year.
As a result of this secondary transaction, Vamsi Duvvuri, the founder and managing partner of Dharana Capital, will join Urban Company’s board as a non-executive director, according to a press statement from the fund. Dharana Capital is an India-focused fund that has invested in several startups, including Zopper, Lentra, NoBroker, and Itilite.
Urban Company has granted ESOPs to 1,593 employees, with around 784 participating in five buybacks, collectively liquidating shares worth Rs 306 crore ($37 million). The last ESOP liquidity program Urban Company conducted was in December 2021, at a valuation of $2.8 billion.
According to reports, Urban Company reported a revenue of Rs 637 crore in FY23 and managed to reduce its losses by 40.1% during the fiscal year. The company became profitable at the profit before tax (PBT) level in April and claimed to have maintained this profitability in the June quarter of FY25.
Urban Company currently operates in 62 cities across India, the UAE, Singapore, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with a partner network of over 55,000 service professionals.
