AMA with Abhiraj Bhal, CEO of UrbanClap

Plus-New-Logo-300x63-2.webp

Become A Startup Insider With Inc42 Plus

Join our exclusive community of business leaders &makers for in-depth tech stories and intelligence on India’s tech economy you won’t find elsewhere.

Become a member

Unlimited Access

Unlock unlimited access to 500+ monthly new stories and Inc42’s complete archive of 40,000+ stories.

Become a member

Inc42 Academy

Exclusive, in-depth and actionable sessions from 300+ industry leaders, founders & operators to help you level up.

Become a member

Startup Deals

Over $250,000 worth deals on software & tools to help your business scale up.

Become a member

Member-Only Events

Connect with editors and industry peers through our members-only community

Become a member

Clutter-Free Experience

Enjoy an ad-free and clutter-free experience as a member, focus on what really matters to you

Become a member

Support Independent Journalism

Your contribution will go on to support and empower our unbiased & data-driven journalism

Plus-New-Logo-300x63-2.webp

Become A Startup Insider With Inc42 Plus

Join our exclusive community of business leaders &makers for in-depth tech stories and intelligence on India’s tech economy you won’t find elsewhere.

Choose Your Plan

2 YEAR PLAN
₹19999
₹7999
₹333/Month
Cancel Anytime
1 YEAR PLAN
₹9999
₹4999
₹416/Month
Cancel Anytime
Cancel Anytime

Become A Startup Insider

Become a Startup Insider in 2024 with Inc42 Plus. Join our exclusive community of 10,000+ founders, investors & operators and stay ahead in India’s startup & business economy.

Hurry! New Year Offer Ending In
2 YEAR PLAN
₹19999
₹7999
₹333/Month
Cancel Anytime
1 YEAR PLAN
₹9999
₹4999
₹416/Month
Cancel Anytime
Cancel Anytime

Abhiraj Bhal thinks that the term ‘hyperlocal’ is overused. In fact, according to him, the term might even be abused. Abhiraj Bhal would know what he is talking about, since he is the co-founder of hyperlocal startup UrbanClap, which he launched along with Raghav ChandraVarun Khaitan on November 10, 2014.

An IIT Kanpur and IIM Ahmedabad graduate, Abhiraj Bhal, left his illustrious career as a consultant at The Boston Consulting Group to embark on the exhilarating journey of entrepreneurship. For the uninitiated, UrbanClap is a mobile marketplace for on-demand local and home-based services in up to 97 different categories including beauty services, photographers, electricians, home cleaning & repairs, yoga & guitar instructors, etc.

Operating in eight cities – Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, and Pune – the startup boasts of investors such as Snapdeal co-founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal and Ratan Tata. Till date, it has raised $60.7 Mn funding in six rounds led by major VC firms like SAIF Partners, Accel Partners and Bessemer Venture Partners. Over the last two and a half years, UrbanClap has amassed a rather impressive user base of more than 1.5 Mn customers and 65,000 verified service professionals. In January 2017, Bhal authored a detailed article for Inc42, where he wrote:

RECOMMENDED FOR yOU

“If 2015 was the year of product market fit and liquidity, and 2016 was the year of monetisation and customer experience, 2017 for us will be the year for user and supplier growth. While supply growth is often a function of time and hard + smart work, user growth is a harder problem to crack.”

With his eyes set on bolstering growth and expansion, Bhal currently handles operations and service provider on-boarding at UrbanClap. The marathon running and sky-diving enthusiast admittedly falls back on his past experience as an advisor to Fortune 500 companies in Germany, India and Southeast Asia to do it all. We at Inc42 recently conducted an AMA discussion with the man himself.

Read the key takeaways from Abhiraj Bhal’s AMA here →