As capital floods into quick home services, the space is back in sharp focus. New-age startups like Pronto and Snabbit have raised back-to-back funding rounds, chasing instant convenience, while incumbent Urban Company is doubling down despite mounting losses from its instant services push.
The momentum is also visible in early scale. Urban Company’s InstaHelp crossed 1 million bookings in March and scaled to over 50,000 daily bookings, while Snabbit reported 1 million orders in the same month. Barely a year old, Pronto clocked over 500,000 monthly fulfilled bookings.
Yet, this surge in funding and traction raises a deeper question around long-term viability. Can convenience-led growth translate into sustainable economics? Aseem Khare, who built and shut down Tinquirebob nearly a decade ago, offers an experience-backed view on what has modifyd, what hasn’t, and why this supply-heavy market remains far more complex than it appears. Here are edited excerpts from the conversation:
Entrackr: It’s been a while since your Tinquirebob days. We hear you’re building again, this time in AI. What’s the new venture about?
Aseem Khare: Yes, we’ve shiftd into Edtech. We’re building Khare Maths, an AI-powered platform focutilized on one-on-one math learning for students from classes 3 to 10. The idea is to personalise learning at scale utilizing AI. I’m building this with my former Tinquirebob co-founder Agam Garg.
Entrackr: Interesting shift. Coming back to your previous space, quick home services seems to be heating up again with players like Urban Company, Snabbit, and Pronto pushing 10–15 minute models. You tested something similar nearly a decade ago with Tinquirebob. How do you see the market today?
Aseem Khare: To be honest, I still believe the space is far from product-market fit. There’s a lot of noise around order volumes and growth, but that doesn’t necessarily translate into a sustainable business. Even if a player is doing tens of thousands of orders a day, it doesn’t prove PMF.
Demand was never the issue, even back in 2016–17. Everyone wants quick, reliable houtilize support. The real challenge lies elsewhere.
Entrackr: What are those core challenges that still remain unsolved?
Aseem Khare: It boils down to three things.
First is unit economics. Are customers truly willing to pay a premium for speed and convenience, or is the demand being artificially driven through subsidies?
Second is supply sustainability. Can platforms retain workers without continuously overpaying them?
And third is supply leakage. This is critical. Unlike ride-hailing, this is a hyperlocal, high-trust category. Once a supporter meets a houtilizehold, there’s a strong incentive for both sides to bypass the platform.
Entrackr: You mentioned supply as a challenge even during Tinquirebob. What exactly did you struggle with back then?
Aseem Khare: Supply was our hugegest pain point. Trainability was low, behaviour was inconsistent, and cancellations were frequent. You could onboard workers, but maintaining quality at scale was very difficult.
It’s similar to what we’ve seen with Uber and Ola. Early on, supply quality is high, but as you scale, it tconcludes to regress to the market average.
Entrackr: Today, in markets like Gurugram, gig supporters on these platforms are earning Rs 25,000–30,000, compared to Rs 15,000–18,000 for traditional full-time houtilizehold support. Does that model hold?
Aseem Khare: That’s where things receive tricky. Right now, platforms are paying a premium to build supply and ensure availability. But that’s not sustainable in the long run.
If and when payouts start relocating closer to market rates, the best workers will simply churn. And becautilize this is a hyperlocal service, many of them will conclude up working directly with houtilizeholds they’ve already discovered through the platform.
Entrackr: So what’s modifyd over the last eight years? Why does the model seem more viable now than before?
Aseem Khare: A few structural things have improved.
One, platforms like Zomato and Swiggy have fundamentally modifyd consumer behaviour. People are now comfortable transacting through apps and expecting on-demand services.
Two, there’s a clear convenience premium emerging. Indian consumers are more willing to pay for saving time and effort.
Three, there’s a new supply pool. Many workers today come from families already exposed to gig work, like spoutilizes of drivers working with ride-hailing or delivery platforms. That familiarity supports onboarding and adoption.
Entrackr: How are investors viewing this space now? Are we likely to see consolidation?
Aseem Khare: Consolidation is almost inevitable. This is a capital-intensive business. If you don’t have deep pockets, it’s very hard to compete.
In many ways, capital itself becomes the moat. Without raising upwards of $100 million, it’s difficult to build supply, manage operations, and sustain growth. Even for established players like Urban Company, long-term success will depconclude on execution quality and depth in specific categories.
Entrackr: Finally, what would be your advice to startups operating in this segment today?
Aseem Khare: Stop focutilizing on vanity metrics like total orders or topline growth. Those can be misleading.
The real test is whether you can build unit economics work in even a single micro-market. If you can’t prove sustainability at a compact scale, scaling up will only amplify the problem. Fundraising alone won’t solve that.
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