In 2025, the average urban Indian no longer needs to wait very long for much (except at government offices and in traffic): They simply have to order what they need from an app, and it’ll be delivered within minutes. The explosion of quick-commerce in the country has meant that millions of Indians are getting increasingly used to not having to wait for deliveries, or step out of their homes, as startups vie to make almost everything, from food and groceries to smartphones and gaming consoles, available within minutes.
It seems investors, too, don’t want to wait long: A budding startup out of New Delhi called Pronto, which lets users book and avail cleaning, laundry, and home services within 10 minutes, has tripled its valuation in less than 90 days.
It was only in May when Pronto raised a $2 million seed round at a $12.5 million valuation. The startup has now raised an $11 million Series A round at a post-money valuation of $45 million, co-led by General Catalyst and Glade Brook Capital. Existing investor Bain Capital Ventures also participated in this round.
The new funding comes in the wake of solid traction: Pronto claims its revenue has risen by nearly five times, founder and CEO Anjali Sardana told TechCrunch, since it came out of stealth barely three months ago.
The startup now has bookings numbering in the “four-digits” every day, and expects annual recurring revenue in the range of $750,000 to $1.5 million, Sardana said, though she declined to disclose exact figures.
“It largely comes down to two things: one being momentum and the insane speed at which we were scaling, as well as just investors recognizing the quality of the team and how fast we were executing,” Sardana said, explaining what led investors to fund the Series A so soon after its seed round.
For investors, Sardana seems to be the primary reason they bet this early. “We were very impressed by Anjali,” said Rahul Garg, a partner at General Catalyst. “Given how young she is, given that she spent a lot of her time in the U.S. after she’s come to India, what she’s been able to achieve, the feedback from supply partners, the feedback from customers, her thought process, and how she wants to build and scale this business, we found it very inspiring.”
Pronto is not the only startup connecting domestic workers with consumers. Lightspeed Venture Partners recently backed Snabbit, and IPO-bound Urban Company also offers a similar service.
Garg told TechCrunch that India has 180-190 million nuclear families who are potential customers for household services, and a semi-skilled and unskilled workforce of 35 million that could tap a $35 billion cumulative wage pool in this space.
“Whichever way you look at the market, this is large enough for multiple players to build an endurable business,” he said.
Expansion plans
Pronto now has six hubs in Gurugram, a satellite city of New Delhi, up from two in May. Each of these hubs serves customers within 1.5 miles.
The startup initially met 70% to 80% of demand from within 500 meters of households, as its first two hubs were located in densely populated residential areas. It has now set up hubs at intersections so its workers can reach multiple smaller, spread-out sectors quickly.
Pronto’s primary customers are working professionals, and it is seeing high demand. “Household help is very prevalent in India. And therefore, these are use cases where demand is quite concentrated, even in small catchment areas,” Garg said.
The startup now plans to expand both within Gurugram and into new markets, including Mumbai, Bengaluru, and other major cities, in the next 12-18 months.
Pronto has a headcount of 33 people and has around 750 workers signed up on its platform.
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