[Funding alert] Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy invests in UrbanClap

Kalyan Krishnamurthy, CEO of Flipkart, has invested Rs 1.6 crore in UrbanClap, right after the hyperlocal marketplace raised its Series D round. Sources close to the matter said that the valuation of the company, post this round, stands at around $480 million.

According to RoC filings reviewed by YourStory, the price per share for this round stood at Rs 51,552, for a total of 310 equity shares.

Also read: UrbanClap's Abhiraj Bhal digs deep on the process of fundraising

Kalyan, the former Managing Director at venture capital firm Tiger Global, has invested in several startups previously. Home rental venture Nestaway, wellness chain Cure.fit, and recently, ecommerce player Moglix, received investments from Kalyan.

Founded in 2014 by Abhiraj Bhal, Varun Khaitan and Raghav Chandra, UrbanClap works closely with service professionals (SPs). These SPs operate as micro-franchises of UrbanClap, allowing the startup to standardise its user experience.

In November, 2018, UrbanClap raised equity funding of $50 million in its Series D round led by Steadview Capital and Vy Capital. So far, the company has raised seven rounds of funding from investors including Accel Partners, SAIF Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners and Ratan Tata.

Besides Amazon-backed Housejoy, UrbanClap is the only survivor of the 2016 hyperlocal slump.

In a previous conversation with YourStory, Raghav said,

"We have a mission to create more than one million micro-entrepreneurs for India and other emerging markets. Today, approximately 15,000 service professionals earn their livelihood through the UrbanClap platform."

He added that the company would like to grow 100 times that number over the next 5 years, while providing high quality, delightful services to our end users. "This will require strong execution, and ahead of the curve investments into our technology platform and operational leadership," Raghav said.

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