Urban Company's core profit grows as InstaHelp burns cash

Urban Company Limited (URBANCO) reported Q2 FY27 revenue of ₹537.3 crore, up 41.4% year on year. Its consolidated adjusted EBITDA loss was ₹144 crore, driven by a deliberate ₹174 crore investment in InstaHelp. The headline loss hides two very different businesses. Excluding InstaHelp, adjusted EBITDA was positive at ₹30 crore, up 213% year on year. The core India consumer services business is growing while improving profitability. Native revenue rose 39.7% to ₹105.4 crore, and international revenue increased 82.1% to ₹75 crore. InstaHelp is the riskier part of the story. Its revenue reached ₹20.5 crore, but its adjusted EBITDA loss widened to ₹174 crore. The business fulfilled 6.2 million orders during the quarter, up 63% sequentially. My view is that Urban Company is making a clear trade-off. It is using profits from its established businesses to build a new instant home-services category. That can create value if order density improves and customers return without heavy discounts. There is early progress. InstaHelp's adjusted EBITDA loss per order narrowed to ₹279 from ₹346 in Q1. But net order value fell to ₹114 from ₹138, partly because of introductory pricing. The next trigger is Q3 FY27. I want to see losses per order fall further without sacrificing order growth. My stance: The core business looks healthier than the consolidated loss suggests, but InstaHelp must show improving unit economics before I become more positive.