Bain bets on Indian domestic work startup Pronto even as rivals face criticism

Urban India is becoming progressively utilized to not having to hold — astatine slightest erstwhile it comes to getting goods and services delivered. You lone request to look astatine the breakneck gait astatine which instant transportation apps similar Blinkit, Zepto, and Swiggy Instamart person grown and continue to spot adoption soar successful the country.

Pronto, 1 specified startup that lets users publication and avail cleaning, laundry and location services wrong 10 minutes, is capitalizing connected that alteration successful user behavior, and it’s present travel retired of stealth with a $2 cardinal effect circular led by Bain Capital Ventures astatine a post-money valuation of $12.5 million.

Investors are apt stoked to put successful specified startups fixed their imaginable for growth, but Pronto’s backing is coming astatine a clip erstwhile radical are progressively delicate to however gig workers are treated by platforms.

Just 2 months ago, different venture-backed location services supplier Urban Company faced aggravated nationalist backlash for launching a akin service. Called Insta Maids, the 15-minute location cleaning work rapidly sparked an uproar connected societal media, mainly for the language Urban Company utilized successful its promotional campaign. The institution aboriginal renamed the work to Insta Help, but many, including gig idiosyncratic unions, didn’t look satisfied with conscionable a rebranding.

For its part, Pronto offers cleaning, laundry, and cooking prep services with 3 antithetic timing options: instant (10 minutes), scheduled, and recurring. Services are offered 24/7, and the startup guarantees 10-minute work entree successful each supported areas. The institution claims much than 1,000 customers successful the North Indian metropolis of Gurugram.

Pronto’s laminitis and CEO, Anjali Sardana, says her institution aims to code gig workers’ concerns with an attack that is “win, win, triumph business” for each stakeholders.

“What’s missing from a batch of the connection astir these services is that they dainty workers similar commodities. They dainty them arsenic inputs. That’s not the mode we operate,” she told TechCrunch. “We beryllium astatine the aforesaid hubs wherever these workers are coming successful and retired each day. And the crushed being that, arsenic soon arsenic you commencement putting separation betwixt yourself and the worker, you suffer empathy for them.”

Government sources estimation India has nearly 4 cardinal home workers, though unofficial sources accidental that fig is much successful the country of 50 million. Nonetheless, astir of these workers are portion of the informal labour market, which Pronto sees arsenic a cardinal competitor.

Pronto says its workers tin gain astir ₹22,000 (about $258) a period if they enactment 8 hours a time for 30 days. It besides offers show bonuses that tin instrumentality their full wage to ₹25,000-₹26,000 (about $293 to $304) a month.

These amounts are importantly higher than what home helpers successful municipality locations similar the Delhi-NCR portion are typically paid, which is astir ₹9,000, per the International Domestic Workers Federation (PDF). Sardana says her startup besides functions arsenic an bureau to assistance workers erstwhile they look exploitation oregon maltreatment — a problem home helpers person struggled with successful the state for decades.

The quick-service model

Speed has go the caller mean for galore municipality Indians, but does that mean radical don’t privation to hold adjacent an hr to person their location cleaned? Sardana thinks so.

“When they request something, they request it close away,” she said. “For that customer, having 10 minutes of work is immense due to the fact that they nary longer person to program ahead.”

Pronto started piloting its work successful December successful Gurugram earlier launching its archetypal hub successful precocious March. So far, the institution claims 70% of its customers person requested its services doubly wrong 14 days.

The startup operates 2 hubs successful Gurugram, each serving customers wrong a two-mile radius. Sardana said 70% to 80% of Pronto’s request comes from wrong 500 meters — about 2 to 3 minutes — of each hub. Workers aren’t required to instrumentality to the hub betwixt jobs, though they indispensable commencement and extremity their shifts there.

Eschewing commissions

Pronto eschews the committee exemplary employed by astir services that employment gig workers, alternatively paying its workers per 4-hour shift, erstwhile each 2 weeks. The institution keeps the fees it charges customers.

The institution said it plans to commencement paying workers weekly, and adjacent fto them take to beryllium paid immoderate clip during their outgo cycles, which home workers often inquire for successful specified unorganized setups.

“Eventually, we are going to physique a batch of ‘almost-fintech’ products for workers to supply services that they need, arsenic a batch of these radical conflict to entree those resources otherwise,” Sardana said. The startup besides plans to motorboat a wellness security merchandise for its workers “very soon,” she added.

To guarantee its customers that its workers are verified and vetted, Pronto does in-house training, authorities ID and constabulary verifications, and tribunal grounds checks, Sardana said. It besides considers giving grooming and upskilling services to workers based connected lawsuit feedback.

The startup plans to unfastened 10 caller hubs successful Gurugram implicit the adjacent 3 months, and turn its idiosyncratic web to 700, and its unit number to 50 — up from implicit 150 workers and 21 employees currently.

Ultimately, it plans to connection much services beyond cleaning and laundry, but its absorption presently is connected enlargement — going deeper into Gurugram and entering caller markets similar Mumbai and Bengaluru.