Indian startup Pronto secures Lachy Groom backing after 20-minute pitch

Just 20 minutes into his first meeting with Pronto’s 24-year-old founder, Lachy Groom , one of Silicon Valley’s most closely watched solo investors , decided to write a check. That February introduction, arranged through a mutual connection, led to a $20 million investment in the Indian startup as an extension of its Series B round. The deal valued Pronto at $200 million post-money, double its valuation from just over two months earlier, as TechCrunch previously reported. The entire transaction came together within weeks, bringing Groom on board as the Bengaluru-based company works to meet surging demand for on-demand home services in India.

Groom cited Pronto’s ambition to build what he called the world’s largest platform for organizing domestic labor, starting with India’s vast and largely informal workforce. “The work underneath that is genuinely hard, and most attempts in adjacent categories have struggled with the operational discipline,” he said. He added that founder Anjali Sardana and her team were operating “at a level I haven’t seen elsewhere in this space.”

Before launching Pronto in 2025, Sardana worked at Bain Capital and venture firm 8VC, where she gained early exposure to investing and high-growth startups. The platform connects households with workers for everyday tasks like cleaning and basic home services.

The introduction came through Paul Hudson, founder of Glade Brook Capital, who connected Groom and Sardana during her trip to San Francisco earlier this year. Glade Brook has backed startups founded by both: Pronto, which Sardana leads, and Physical Intelligence, where Groom is a co-founder. Hudson and Groom have also invested in Indian quick-commerce startup Zepto.

Sardana described Groom’s investment style as heavily founder-driven. “He indexes two things. One is the founder, and that’s 95% of it. If he loves the founder, then he will invest,” she told TechCrunch, adding that the remaining consideration is the scale and potential of the business.

Groom’s bet arrives as a wave of Indian startups race to build instant home services platforms, a category seeing rapid adoption among urban households. Consumers are increasingly turning to on-demand help for everyday tasks.

The market opportunity is substantial. A recent Bank of America note, reviewed by TechCrunch, estimates the instant home services market in India could grow into a $15 billion to $18 billion industry by the end of the decade. Companies including Pronto, Snabbit, and Urban Company’s InstaHelp are competing for share in the fast-growing segment.

Competition is intensifying, with heavy capital inflows and aggressive pricing, particularly to attract first-time users. Bank of America estimates that Snabbit and Urban Company’s InstaHelp each control about 40% of the market, while Pronto holds around 20%, even as it scales rapidly. The category is expected to remain “burn-heavy” over the next two to three years.

Despite trailing larger rivals, Pronto has been growing quickly. Its daily bookings have risen from roughly 18,000 to 26,000 in just over a month. The startup is focused on driving repeat usage, betting that turning occasional demand into frequent, habit-driven behavior will be key to winning the category. Its top 10% of users account for about 40% of bookings.

This growth has also brought challenges, particularly in building supply. Pronto has expanded its network of service workers to 6,500, up from 1,440 in January. But Sardana said demand continues to outpace supply, making forecasting and capacity management key hurdles as the startup scales.