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You may soon be able to book services on UrbanClap with a simple chatroom message, as the hyperlocal start-up has acquired Delhi-based concierge start-up GoodService. It is currently working on merging the operations.
Two sources in the company confirmed the development. However, UrbanClap declined to comment and an email sent to GoodService co-founder Ruchir Jain remains unanswered at the time of publishing. The acquisition is an all-cash deal, according to the sources.
As for GoodService, the mobile app has vanished from Apple and Android app stores, while its website redirects users to UrbanClap and says that the services are verified by it. The Facebook page of the start-up also seems to be out of service, with the last post published in early May. The existing users of the app have also not got any response on their service requests since May.
GoodService, founded in 2014 by Vipul Aggarwal, a Stanford Graduate and Ruchir Jain, an IIM-Ahmedabad alumnus, used to offer local services such as beauty professionals and cooking classes. The users could order these by initiating a chat with the GoodService app agents, much like contacting a friend for a favour. The company had raised $1.6 million in funding from Sequoia Capital in June 2015.
The GoodService platform can prove beneficial for UrbanClap, which has been working on an algorithm that asks a series of questions on each category, to make customisation of service offerings more accurate. A chat service will allow the company a deeper insight into consumer behaviour.
This is UrbanClap’s second acquisition within this year, after the mobile-based services marketplace acquired after sales service platform HandyHome in an equity swap deal.
This is an excerpt from Tech in Asia. You can read the full article here