Urban India is becoming increasingly used to not having to wait — at least when it comes to getting goods and services delivered. You only need to look at the breakneck pace at which instant delivery apps like Blinkit, Zepto, and Swiggy Instamart have grown and continue to see adoption soar in the country.
Pronto, one such startup that lets users book and avail cleaning, laundry and home services within 10 minutes, is capitalizing on that change in consumer behavior, and it’s now come out of stealth with a $2 million seed round led by Bain Capital Ventures at a post-money valuation of $12.5 million.
Investors are likely stoked to invest in such startups given their potential for growth, but Pronto’s funding is coming at a time when people are increasingly sensitive to how gig workers are treated by platforms.
Just two months ago, another venture-backed home services provider Urban Company faced intense public backlash for launching a similar service. Called Insta Maids, the 15-minute home cleaning service quickly sparked an uproar on social media, mainly for the language Urban Company used in its promotional campaign. The company later renamed the service to Insta Help, but many, including gig worker unions, didn’t seem satisfied with just a rebranding.
For its part, Pronto offers cleaning, laundry, and cooking prep services with three different timing options: instant (10 minutes), scheduled, and recurring. Services are offered 24/7, and the startup guarantees 10-minute service access in all supported areas. The company claims more than 1,000 customers in the North Indian city of Gurugram.
Pronto’s founder and CEO, Anjali Sardana, says her company aims to address gig workers’ concerns with an approach that is “win, win, win business” for all stakeholders.
“What’s missing from a lot of the language around these services is that they treat workers like commodities. They treat them as inputs. That’s not the way we operate,” she told TechCrunch. “We sit at the same hubs where these workers are coming in and out every day. And the reason being that, as soon as you start putting separation between yourself and the worker, you lose empathy for them.”
Government sources estimate India has nearly 4 million domestic workers, though unofficial sources say that number is more in the area of 50 million. Nonetheless, most of these workers are part of the informal labor market, which Pronto sees as a key competitor.
Pronto says its workers can earn about ₹22,000 (about $258) a month if they work eight hours a day for 30 days. It also offers performance bonuses that can take their total pay to ₹25,000-₹26,000 (about $293 to $304) a month.
These amounts are significantly higher than what domestic helpers in urban locations like the Delhi-NCR region are typically paid, which is around ₹9,000, per the International Domestic Workers Federation (PDF). Sardana says her startup also functions as an agency to help workers when they face exploitation or abuse — a problem domestic helpers have struggled with in the country for decades.
The quick-service model
Speed has become the new normal for many urban Indians, but does that mean people don’t want to wait even an hour to have their home cleaned? Sardana thinks so.
“When they need something, they need it right away,” she said. “For that customer, having 10 minutes of service is huge because they no longer have to plan ahead.”
Pronto started piloting its service in December in Gurugram before launching its first hub in late March. So far, the company claims 70% of its customers have requested its services twice within 14 days.
The startup operates two hubs in Gurugram, each serving customers within a two-mile radius. Sardana said 70% to 80% of Pronto’s demand comes from within 500 meters — about 2 to 3 minutes — of each hub. Workers aren’t required to return to the hub between jobs, though they must start and end their shifts there.
Eschewing commissions
Pronto eschews the commission model employed by most services that employ gig workers, instead paying its workers per 4-hour shift, once every two weeks. The company keeps the fees it charges customers.
The company said it plans to start paying workers weekly, and even let them choose to be paid any time during their payment cycles, which domestic workers often ask for in such unorganized setups.
“Eventually, we are going to build a lot of ‘almost-fintech’ products for workers to provide services that they need, as a lot of these people struggle to access those resources otherwise,” Sardana said. The startup also plans to launch a health insurance product for its workers “very soon,” she added.
To assure its customers that its workers are verified and vetted, Pronto does in-house training, government ID and police verifications, and court record checks, Sardana said. It also considers giving training and upskilling services to workers based on customer feedback.
The startup plans to open 10 new hubs in Gurugram over the next three months, and grow its worker network to 700, and its staff count to 50 — up from over 150 workers and 21 employees currently.
Ultimately, it plans to offer more services beyond cleaning and laundry, but its focus currently is on expansion — going deeper into Gurugram and entering new markets like Mumbai and Bengaluru.
