A 20-minute pitch wins Indian startup Pronto, backed by Lachy Groom

Rashi Groom, one of Silicon Valley’s hottest private investors, decided to back Indian startup Pronto just 20 minutes after his first meeting with the 24-year-old founder.

Through this mutual connection, the meeting, held in February, led Groom to invest $20 million in Pronto as an extension of its Series B round, valuing the startup at $200 million. As TechCrunch previously reported, the startup’s valuation has doubled in just over two months. The deal closed within weeks and brings the private investor on board as the Bangalore-based startup expands to meet India’s growing demand for on-demand home services.

Groome said he was drawn to Pronto’s ambition to build what he called the world’s largest platform for organizing domestic work, starting with India’s vast and largely unorganized workforce. “The work underneath is really tough, and most attempts in adjacent categories struggle with operational discipline,” he said, adding that Pronto founder Anjali Saldhana (pictured above) and her team were operating “at a level we haven’t seen anywhere else in this space.”

Before founding Pronto in 2025, Saldana worked at Bain Capital and venture firm 8VC, where he gained early exposure to investments and high-growth startups. The startup connects households with workers to perform daily tasks such as cleaning and basic household services.

The introduction was arranged through Glade Brook Capital founder Paul Hudson, who connected Groom with Saldana during a visit to San Francisco earlier this year. Glade Brook has backed startups founded by both Pronto, led by Sardana, and Physical Intelligence, of which Groom is a co-founder. Hudson and Groome are also backing Indian quick commerce startup Zept.

Saldana said Groom’s investment approach is largely founder-driven. “He’s based on two things. One is the founder, and that’s 95%. If he loves the founder, he’ll invest,” she told TechCrunch, adding that the rest depends on the size and potential of the business.

Groom’s bet comes as Indian startups race to build instant home service platforms. This category is rapidly gaining popularity among urban households as more consumers rely on on-demand help with daily tasks.

This opportunity is important. A recent Bank of America memo reviewed by TechCrunch estimated that India’s instant home services market could grow to a $15 billion to $18 billion industry by the end of this decade, as companies such as Pronto, Snavit and Urban Company’s InstaHelp compete for a share of the fast-growing category.

Competition is fierce, with heavy capital inflows and aggressive pricing to attract especially first-time users. Bank of America estimates that Snabbit and Urban Company’s InstaHelp each have about 40% of the market, while Pronto has about 20% of the market despite rapidly scaling. This category is expected to remain ‘burn-heavy’ over the next two to three years.

Despite lagging behind larger rivals, Pronto has rapidly scaled up, with bookings increasing from about 18,000 per day to 26,000 in just over a month. The startup is focused on driving repeat usage, with the top 10% of users accounting for around 40% of bookings, and is betting that converting occasional demand into frequent, habit-driven usage will be the key to winning the category.

This growth has also brought challenges, particularly in expanding supply. Pronto has expanded its network of service workers to 6,500 from 1,440 in January. But Saldana said demand continues to outstrip supply, making forecasting and capacity management a key challenge as startups grow.