India's $57B Domestic Help Market Goes Digital in 10 Minutes

From Zero to $100M in Nine Months

18,000 bookings a day. That's what Bengaluru-based Pronto is processing now, compared to roughly 1,000 just a year ago. The nine-month-old startup's meteoric rise hit another milestone Tuesday with a $25 million Series B round led by Epiq Capital, pushing its valuation to $100 million—more than double its August 2025 valuation and eight times its stealth-mode debut value.

But here's what makes this interesting: Pronto isn't just another on-demand app. It's attempting to formalize India's massive informal domestic help economy, where 99.99% of transactions still happen offline, according to founder Anjali Sardana.

The startup promises something unprecedented in this space: 10-minute dispatch times in several of its micromarkets, positioning itself closer to quick commerce than traditional home services.

The Trust Equation in a $57B Market

India's home services sector is valued at approximately $56-57 billion, yet online penetration sits at less than 1% of transaction value, according to Redseer Strategy Consultants. The reason? Deep-rooted reliance on word-of-mouth networks and informal arrangements.

Pronto's approach tackles the core friction points: trust and reliability. Every worker—called a "Pro"—undergoes in-person training and background verification. They're assigned structured shifts intended to provide more predictable income than typical informal arrangements.

The results are telling. The platform's top 10% of users place nine or more orders monthly, with a median time of just two days between first and second bookings. Customer retention speaks to solved pain points.

The Economics of Formalization

Currently, 4,500 active professionals work on Pronto's platform, 99% of whom are women. Workers completing roughly 20 days of shifts monthly earn a median of ₹23,000-25,000 ($251-273), with monthly retention above 70%.

This represents a significant shift from the informal economy's unpredictability. Traditional domestic help arrangements often lack consistent scheduling, standardized rates, or worker protections.

Yet demand still outpaces supply. Bookings grow about 20% week-over-week, and Sardana targets 70,000 daily bookings by June. The startup is expanding from one city to 10, including Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, and Mumbai.

The Competition Heats Up

Pronto operates in an increasingly crowded field. Snabbit raised $30 million in October at a $180 million valuation, reporting about 830,000 orders in February. Publicly listed Urban Company crossed 50,000 daily bookings in February.

Sensor Tower data shows Pronto's daily active users grew 37% to roughly 101,000 between late January and February, compared with 30% growth for Snabbit to around 93,000 daily users.

The competitive dynamics reveal different strategic bets: scale versus quality, breadth versus depth, speed versus sustainability.

Beyond Cleaning: The Platform Play

Pronto is piloting new offerings including cooking, car washing, and dog walking, exploring additional categories like salon services. However, core tasks—sweeping, mopping, utensil cleaning—remain the platform's most-used services.

With a lean team of about 60 employees and roughly two years of runway following the latest fundraise, the startup plans to deploy fresh capital toward onboarding more professionals and expanding into new cities.

Unit economics are still evolving. Sardana notes "very positive green shoots" in oldest micromarkets in Gurugram, where contribution margins have turned positive, though newer markets remain in investment mode.