Urban Company Renames Insta Maids to 'Insta Help' After Backlash

Urban Company Jumps On The Quick Commerce Bandwagon With ‘Insta Maids’

SUMMARY

Urban Company has rolled out a pilot of its 15-minute maid booking service dubbed ‘Insta Maids’ in Mumbai

As part of the new offering, it offers services such as utensil cleaning, brooming and mopping, cooking preparation, for an hourly fee of INR 49

Urban Company is looking to file draft papers for INR 3,000 Cr IPO by the end of March quarter of the ongoing fiscal year

Update | March 18, 10:07 PM

IPO-bound home services startup Urban Company has renamed its recently launched 15-minute maid booking service, ‘Insta Maids,’ to ‘Insta Help.’

The move comes amid social media backlash over the term “maids,” which many felt undermined the dignity of workers in the sector.

In a statement on X, Urban Company acknowledged the importance of language in shaping perceptions and reaffirmed its commitment to respecting the dignity of labour.

“Words matter. That’s why Insta Maids is now Insta Help – because dignity, respect, and progress start with the name and go beyond. Thank you for your feedback and for helping us make this change,” the company said.

Original | March 13, 8:11 PM

IPO-bound home services startup Urban Company has jumped on the quick commerce bandwagon with the launch of a 15-minute maid booking service dubbed ‘Insta Maids’.

With this, Urban Company has joined the likes of Flipkart, Amazon, BigBasket, which have recently ventured into India’s burgeoning quick commerce market, which is clocking more than $6 Bn in annual sales.

Zomato-owned Blinkit, IPO-bound Zepto and Swiggy Instamart currently dominate the sector. They cumulatively raked in a revenue of nearly $1 Bn in the previous fiscal year (FY24).

Urban Company is initially piloting Insta Maids in Mumbai, but it’s unclear if the Delhi NCR-based startup plans to expand its new offering to other cities.

The company did not immediately respond to Inc42’s request for comment on the development.

Videos circulating on social media platform Facebook showed Insta Maids offers services such as utensil cleaning, brooming and mopping, cooking preparation, among others.

Maids onboard the platform charge users by the hour with prices running as low as INR 49/hour. Insta Maids

Urban Company’s entry is set to further intensify competition in the already crowded quick commerce market. Amid growing demand for rapid delivery of groceries, daily essentials, food, electronics, beauty products, a number of players are entering the space.

In February, cloud kitchen unicorn Rebel Foods launched its 15-minute food delivery service QuickiES. In the same month, ecommerce giant Amazon piloted its 10-minute delivery service Amazon Pay in Bengaluru. Its rival Flipkart offers quick delivery of items under Flipkart Minutes.

A number of startups such as Blip, Farmako, and Swish have also cropped up in the space and are targeting specific categories like fashion, healthcare and food.

Investor interest is also exploding in the quick commerce market. Earlier this month, Bengaluru-based Swish raised about $14 Mn from the likes of Accel, Hara Global, and Unacademy founder Gaurav Munjal.

Market leaders in the space – Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart and Zepto – are already charting a path to profitability. Bernstein expects Blinkit to achieve breakeven by Q3 FY26 and Instamart to achieve adjusted EBITDA breakeven by Q1 FY28.

Urban Company’s launch of Insta Maids comes on the heels of reports that the company is looking to file draft papers for its potential INR 3,000 Cr initial public offering (IPO) by the end of the March quarter of the ongoing fiscal year.