The rising demand for such instant help services indicates the growing habit of expecting instant delivery that consumers have developed, following the rise of quick commerce players that promise to deliver food and groceries within a 10-minute time frame.
Platforms like Urban Company, Snabbit, and Pronto reported unprecedented traction, with bookings for cleaning, grooming, appliance repairs, and domestic help peaking during the Diwali run-up.
The quick service help model is built on the promise of delivering trained professionals within 10-15 minutes of booking which mirrors the speed-first ethos of grocery delivery players, but applies it to home services.
According to industry estimates, monthly bookings for instant house-help services exceeded 300,000 across various platforms in September, according to an article in online tech and startup news platform The Arc. Cleaning and grooming were identified as the top categories for these services.
The increase can be attributed to a combination of festive preparations, last-minute household needs, and a growing reliance on app-based domestic assistance. These platforms also reported a rise in repeat usage and weekday demand, suggesting that consumers are beginning to view these services as everyday necessities rather than occasional use cases.
The average incentive payout during the festival season is typically 15-25% of the service cost. For example, for a ₹300 one-hour service, ₹45-75 is paid as an incentive and during the non-festival season, it’s about 5-10%.
Urban Co.’s busy month
Urban Company, India’s largest home-services marketplace, said October was among its busiest months in recent years. “We are on track to complete around 4.5-5.0 lakh service orders this month, capturing about 60-65% of the online home services market,” said a person close to the company with direct knowledge of the matter.
Cleaning and grooming categories led the charge, while Urban Co’s newly-launched InstaHelp vertical—offering instant domestic help—saw rapid adoption. “This year, InstaHelp was one of our fastest-growing verticals,” said the person familiar with the matter.
Key Takeaways
- The surge in instant home-service bookings is a direct result of the “quick-commerce” effect, showing consumers now expect near-instant delivery or service for domestic tasks.
- The Diwali run-up acted as a major catalyst, with cleaning and grooming identified as the top categories driving demand across platforms like Urban Co., Pronto, and Snabbit.
- Urban Co. had one of its busiest months. Its new InstaHelp vertical saw rapid adoption, reflecting the high demand for instant domestic assistance.
- Platforms are actively pivoting to high-frequency, everyday use cases beyond the festive spike. This includes subscription pilots and new verticals like home cooking, childcare, and elder care.
- Startups like Pronto and Snabbit validated the instant service model, reporting full bookings and strong revenue growth, respectively, and are now preparing for expansion into Tier II cities.
The company, which went public on 17 September 2025, raising approximately ₹1,900 crore through its Initial public offering (IPO), has been expanding its product and service portfolio to sustain momentum beyond the festive peak. As detailed in its draft red herring prospectus, Urban Co. has diversified into product-led offerings under its ‘Native’ brand, and new home-improvement categories such as painting, wall panels, and small home projects.
Revenue from operations touched ₹8,460.16 million in the nine months ended 31 December 2024, up 40.8% year-on-year, driven by strong growth across all segments. The Native vertical alone grew almost 600% to ₹759.75 million, while India consumer services rose 24% to ₹6,535.85 million, and the international business expanded 83% to ₹1,164.56 million.
Urban Co. also showed a restated profit of ₹2,425.97 million during the same period, reversing a loss of ₹577.86 million a year earlier. However, the gain was largely aided by a deferred tax credit of ₹2,154.6 million, as management expects stronger taxable profits in the future. The company had reported a loss of ₹927.72 million in FY24, narrowing from a ₹3,124.84 million loss in FY23.
Its Native brand, which includes long-lasting water purifiers and smart door locks, has been a major contributor to growth, while pilots in cleaning subscription services aim to turn one-time users into recurring customers. The company’s strategy now centres on building high-frequency, everyday use cases through products and services integrated within its app ecosystem.
Surging orders
Founded in 2014 by Abhiraj Singh Bhal, Varun Khaitan, and Raghav Chandra, the Gurugram-based firm operates across 50 cities. Its Q2 FY26 results are due on 1 November, with investors closely tracking whether post-IPO growth sustains.
Similarly, Gurugram-based Pronto, founded in 2024 by former Bain Capital investor Anjali Sardana, promises trained professionals at customers’ doors in under 10 minutes. The startup reported full bookings across all slots during the two weeks leading up to Diwali. “Demand was higher than we had expected,” Sardana said. “Every day during that period, all our booking slots were taken, and we had to stop accepting new requests.”
To manage the surge, Pronto rolled out a Diwali incentive programme to retain and maximise workforce capacity. “We own the supply stack end to end—right from screening and training to deployment,” Sardana added. “Quality is non-negotiable for us. We’d rather stop accepting bookings than compromise on service standards.”
Backed by Bain Capital Ventures, Pronto raised $2 million in seed funding earlier this year and is preparing to expand into Tier-II cities. The company is positioning itself as a full-stack instant services platform, with ambitions to build high-frequency use cases beyond festive peaks.
Rivals rise
Snabbit, a quick help service platform, reported its best-ever month, with gross monthly revenue reaching ₹8 crore—nearly 100 times higher than last Diwali. Founded by Ayush Agarwal in 2024, Snabbit was originally headquartered in Mumbai but has recently shifted its base to Bengaluru to support nationwide expansion and deepen its tech and operational capabilities.
The company fulfilled up to 15,000 jobs daily during peak festive days, with over 3,500 experts active on the platform. “We expect that number to grow further to 20,000 by the end of this month,” Agarwal said. To handle the surge, Snabbit offered performance-based bonuses and flexible scheduling. “We saw strong participation from workers who were eager to take advantage of the festive earning potential,” he added.
Now that the festive season has ended, Snabbit is pivoting to sustain demand through new, high-frequency verticals such as home cooking, childcare, and elder care—segments that it believes can drive steady, year-round engagement. “We’re looking beyond festive spikes and building for everyday use cases,” Agarwal said. According to Tracxn, Snabbit reported a revenue of ₹1.9 lakh and a net loss of ₹19.1 lakh in FY24.
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