Urban Company loses Rs 346 per InstaHelp order

Urban Company lost Rs 346 per order on its InstaHelp quick home-services business in Q1 FY27, an improvement from the Rs 447 loss per order in Q4 FY26, founder Abhiraj Singh Bahl said in a shareholder letter. The average order value declined from Rs 150 to Rs 138 as the company lowered prices to compete with rivals such as Snabbit and Pronto. InstaHelp processed 3.82 million orders in the June quarter, up 43% sequentially, but reported an adjusted EBITDA loss of Rs 132 crore.

Management said the average order value must rise to around Rs 300 for InstaHelp to break even. Bahl noted that service professionals need to earn Rs 130-160 per hour, and with a maximum utilisation of 140-150 hours per month, net earnings of Rs 20,000-22,000 are needed to attract supply from the offline market. The company estimates an additional Rs 50 per hour for overheads, implying pricing of at least Rs 200 per hour for a typical 1.5-hour service. Bahl said the transition to profitability could take two to five years, given sustained competition.