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ABSTRACT
With a great response from Indian urban consumers, home services startup, Urban Clap looked forward to venture into the global markets. The think tanks thought of rebranding the company from Urban Clap to Urban Company. The company was successful in luring investors and raising capital. It rigorously focused on employee training and improving customer experience which resulted in great success for a 6-year-old start - up. Urban Company co-founder Abhiraj Bhal said at the announcement that the intention behind the rebranding was to have a globally acceptable company name(Sheth, 2020). For increasing the scale of operations, the company tied up with NSDC to source, train and employ at least a million individuals from tier 2 and 3 cities. It is a historical fact that many times rebranding may fail. When we compare the entry of foreign brands into India, we see that the majority have used their original name and value proposition which is carriedby the parent brand. Only time can tell that the decision will go right or wrong for "Urban Company".
Keywords: Urban Company, Urban Clap, Branding, International Marketing, Rebranding.
The Case Study
Urban Clap was one of the largest Home Utility Service providers in India. The company got huge success in providing the varied type of services delivered directly at home; be it servicingAir conditioners or home appliances, beauty and Saloon services, interiors, health, and wellness, or pest control. Urban Clap was the brainchild of three young entrepreneurs named Abhiraj Bahl, Varun Khaitan, and Raghav Chandra in 2014, with an innovative idea for facilitating customers with services ranging from haircuts and pedicures to paintwork of houses (Urban Company, 2014). Since its launch, it has achieved good consumer acceptance in urban and semi-urban markets across India.
The company was able to raise funds from several investment firms including $75 million from a USbased investment fund Tiger Global Management and $ 180 million from renowned capital investors like Steadview Capital, SAIF Partners, VY Capital, and Accel (Sriram, 2019).We could notice the performance of the company as it was not only able to raise funds but also was able to pay back as well. It paid back a whopping amount of $45 million well in time, to the existing investors, angel investors, employees,...