In 2020, Nazia was working at a data entry office in Hyderabad, but dreamed of being a beautician. Then, on YouTube, she saw a video about Urban Company, a platform similar to the US site TaskRabbit, which promises to connect workers'plumbers, electricians, painters, beauticians, and others'with clients who need their services. Workers who join the platform as beauticians often pay upward of $500 to register and receive a salon equipment kit. For Nazia, it felt like an investment worth taking. When it launched in 2014, Urban Company was revolutionary for India's disjointed home services market, providing customers with vetted and trained workers through an easy-to-use interface. Nazia was one of tens of thousands of workers who joined the platform, which grew and grew thanks to consecutive rounds of fundraising from investors including Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global, and Prosus Ventures, becoming the largest home services provider in India, valued at almost $3 billion. Then it...
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