12 August 2016, India :
UrbanClap has acquired Delhi-based concierge startup GoodService making things quite easy for consumers. You may soon be able to book services with a simple chatroom message. It is currently working on merging the operations.
Hyperlocal startup UrbanClap was founded in October 2014 by Varun Khaitan, who previously worked at the Boston Consulting Group; Abhiraj Bhal, an IIM Ahmedabad and IIT Kanpur graduate who also worked at BCG; and Raghav Chandra, a University of California, Berkeley, alumnus who worked at Twitter.
Goodservice was founded in 2014, it offers on-demand services to users through chat. The app acts as a personal secretary and assists in finding services that range from electricians and plumbers to booking movie tickets and getting doctor’s appointments. The company had raised US$1.6 million in funding from Sequoia Capital in June 2015.
UrbanClap co-founder Abhiraj Bhal had earlier indicated that the company will look for acquisitions in the on-demand laundry space also. With several online marketplaces in the local and home services space available, such as Taskbob, LocalOye, and Housejoy, UrbanClap’s acquisition spree may treble this year.
With the tightening of the market and the funding coming in, this category has seen some players falter. For instance, LocalOye laid off employees to cut costs, paving way for consolidation. Recently, personal chat assistant platform Helpchat also fired close to 100 employees after it had shut the chat-wing of its business.
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