Snapdeal's Cofounders Exit Urban Company With 200X Returns

SUMMARY

Rohit Bansal and Kunal Bahl exited Urban Company with INR 111 Cr, 195X of their INR 57 Lakh investment in 2015

Urban Company raised the funds from Snapdeal cofounders prior to them setting up VC firm Titan Capital

The exit was part of Dharana Capital’s $50 Mn fund infusion in Urban Company via a secondary transaction

Urban Company’s latest $50 Mn fundraise paved the way for Snapdeal cofounders Rohit Bansal and Kunal Bahl’s venture capital (VC) firm Titan Capital’s complete exit from the startup.

According to a report by ET, the duo exited the hyperlocal services startup with INR 111 Cr, 195X of their INR 57 Lakh investment in 2015.

Titan Capital confirmed the development in a post on LinkedIn and said it would reinvest the gains in the Indian startup ecosystem.

In a separate LinkedIn post, Bahl said, “We have mixed feelings about exiting the business as an investor, but do so with only the best wishes for the company to continue to go from strength to strength, which I am 100% certain it will.”

It is pertinent to note that Urban Company raised the funds from Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal prior to them setting up the VC firm. The duo set up Titan Capital in 2019.

Titan Capital claims to have raised $10 Bn from over 100 institutional investors to date. Besides Urban Company, Titan Capital has invested in over 200 startups, including Ola, Mamaearth, Shadowfax, Credgenics, and Razorpay. Most recently, the VC firm invested in smart appliances startup KARBAN and bubble tea brand Boba Bhai.

This isn’t the first time when the VC firm has registered bumper returns when exiting from a startup. When Mamaearth’s parent company Honasa Consumers made its public market debut last year, Titan saw returns of nearly 101X on their initial investment in the startup.

Besides Titan Capital divesting its stake in Urban Company, the secondary share sale saw the startup’s employees and other shareholders also selling their shares.

The shares were bought by VC firm Dharana Capital. Besides joining the startup’s cap table, Dharana Capital’s founder and managing partner Vamsi Duvvuri will also join the startup’s board.

Urban Company has raised a total funding of nearly $650 Mn to date from investors like Tiger Global, Prosus, Vy Capitaland, Steadview Capital among its backers.

Urban Company’s net loss declined more than 40% to INR 308 Cr in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23) from INR 514 Cr in the previous fiscal year. Revenue from operations jumped 45% to INR 637 Cr during the year under review from INR 438 Cr in FY22.

As of now, the startup is yet to disclose its earnings for FY24. However, its cofounder and CEO Abhiraj Singh Bhal recently claimed that Urban Company’s India operations turned profitable before tax in April 2024.