Urban

What Urban does

Urban (legal entity: Urban Massage Limited) is a UK-headquartered, privately held mobile wellness marketplace founded in 2014 by Jack Tang and Giles Williams. The platform connects consumers with a network of more than 4,000 pre-vetted independent wellness professionals who deliver on-demand treatments — including massage (deep tissue, sports, pregnancy, injury management, relaxation), beauty services (manicures, pedicures, facials, waxing, lashes, brows), osteopathy, physiotherapy, and pregnancy-specific care — directly to the customer's home or office between 7am and 11pm daily. Urban's core technical product is a two-sided mobile marketplace comprising a consumer booking app/website and a separate Urban Pro app used by therapists for scheduling, earnings tracking, and client messaging.

The company generates revenue by taking a 30-40% commission on each booking plus 100% of client tips, on a fully transactional pay-as-you-go basis with no subscription or contract requirements. Pricing varies by city and time-of-day, with peak windows (weekday evenings, weekends) priced higher than off-peak slots. Urban operates across seven cities — London, Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Glasgow (United Kingdom) and Paris (France) — and reports over one million cumulative treatments delivered, more than 200,000 customers in London alone, and over 10,000 five-star reviews on Trustpilot with a 4.9/5 average therapist rating. Distribution is direct-to-consumer via owned digital channels (website, iOS and Android apps), supported by organic social media, content marketing, and a £15 refer-a-friend programme.

Urban's go-to-market is product-led: customers self-serve bookings with same-day availability and therapists reachable in as little as 60 minutes. The platform's primary defensibility rests on its scaled supply-side network, a multi-step Pro Vetting and Safety System (background checks, qualification and insurance verification, in-app GPS tracking, 24/7 support), and a nascent Urban for Teams corporate wellness channel that addresses an enterprise-adjacent segment. Cumulative disclosed venture funding totals approximately $35.7M across nine rounds from 2014 through September 2020, with notable backers including Felix Capital, Passion Capital, ADV, and BNF Capital; the company has also expanded via the acquisitions of MILK Beauty (2017) and Freauty (2018).

Name

Urban

Legal name

Urban Massage Limited

Website

https://urban.co

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Urban is a UK-headquartered mobile wellness marketplace, founded in 2014, connecting consumers with 4,000+ vetted therapists for on-demand at-home massage, beauty, osteopathy, and physiotherapy services across seven cities in the UK and France.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Mobile Wellness Marketplace

NAICS

Offices of Other Health Practitioners (6213)

SIC

Services-Nursing & Personal Care Facilities (8050)

akta.pro primary industry

Personal Care & Wellness Booking Platforms (Beauty, Fitness, Spa) (BPAMAHAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Mobile Massage Therapy (HSALAMAF), Mobile Spa & Body Treatments (HSALAMAG)

Keywords

• Mobile wellness marketplace
• On-demand massage services
• At-home beauty treatments
• Vetted therapist platform
• Corporate wellness programs

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Service Transaction Fees: Urban takes a 30-40% commission on each booking (pro keeps 60-70% of each booking), plus 100% of client tips. No hidden fees or contracts.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Urban operates a mobile marketplace platform that connects customers with over 4,000 pre-vetted wellness professionals for at-home massage, beauty, physiotherapy, osteopathy and pregnancy treatments across the UK and Paris. Customers book instantly through the website or mobile apps from 7am-11pm daily, with pros often arriving within 60 minutes, while the company monetizes each booking via a 30-40% transaction commission.

Product overview

Urban is a UK-based mobile wellness platform operating as a marketplace connecting consumers with vetted wellness professionals for at-home treatments. The core offering is a platform that enables booking of massage, beauty, physiotherapy, and osteopathy services delivered at the customer's location. The platform consists of the consumer-facing booking app/website for customers and the Urban Pro app for professionals. The main service categories include massage therapies (deep tissue, sports, pregnancy, relaxation, injury management, and more), beauty treatments (nails, facials, waxing, lashes/brows), and physical health services (osteopathy, physiotherapy). Additional offerings include gift cards, a loyalty programme (Urban Rewards), and a professional partner network for therapists. The company operates across UK cities including London, Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Paris, with services available from 7am to 11pm daily.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Mobile Massage Services On-demand at-home massage therapy connecting users with vetted massage therapists for treatment types including Urban Classic (Swedish-style), deep tissue, sports, pregnancy, relaxing, injury/pain management and express massages, delivered at the customer's chosen location.
• Beauty Services At-home beauty treatments including nails (gel manicures, classic and gel pedicures), facials (deep cleanse, hydrating, youth boost, bespoke, express, pregnancy glow), waxing (Hollywood, Brazilian, full leg, underarm), and lash and brow treatments (lift and tint, lash extensions, brow shaping, brow lamination) delivered by mobile beauty therapists.
• Osteopathy At-home osteopathy consultations and treatments delivered by degree-qualified osteopaths for muscle, joint and bone health issues, including specialist cranial osteopathy.
• Physiotherapy At-home physiotherapy sessions delivered by qualified, pre-vetted mobile physiotherapists for injury recovery, mobility assessment, and physical rehabilitation.
• Pregnancy Services Specialist prenatal and postnatal treatments including pregnancy massage (prenatal and postnatal), pregnancy glow facial, and osteopathy consultation and treatment for expectant and new mothers.
• Gift Cards Digital Urban gift cards allowing recipients to redeem against massage, beauty, osteopathy, physiotherapy or pregnancy services via the platform.
• Urban Pro Platform Platform for independent wellness professionals (massage therapists, beauty therapists, physiotherapists, osteopaths) to apply, get vetted, manage bookings, track earnings, set availability, message clients and receive weekly payouts via the Pro mobile app.
• Urban for Teams (Corporate Wellness) Corporate wellness offering for companies to provide at-home massage and beauty treatments as employee benefits and team relaxation experiences.

Quantifiable outcome

• Massage can reduce stress by 31%

Named customers3 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Direct peers

• Treatwell: UK/Europe's leading beauty and wellness booking marketplace connecting consumers with salons, spas, and therapists — directly comparable to Urban on the consumer-side marketplace model, though more venue-based than at-home.
• Blys: On-demand mobile massage, beauty, and wellness platform operating in Australia and India with a vetted-pro marketplace model — directly comparable to Urban in core mobile wellness delivery, geography, and pro economics.
• Soothe: US-based on-demand mobile massage and wellness platform connecting customers with vetted therapists for at-home services — directly comparable business model and service mix to Urban.
• Zeel: Pioneer of on-demand in-home massage in the US with vetted therapists and same-day booking — directly comparable to Urban on mobile massage marketplace mechanics.
• Urban Company (formerly UrbanClap): India/Middle East/Australia on-demand marketplace for at-home beauty, wellness, and home services — directly comparable to Urban on at-home service categories, pro vetting, and marketplace model.
• Glamsquad: US on-demand mobile beauty services (hair, makeup, nails) delivered to customers' homes — directly comparable to Urban on at-home beauty marketplace model.

Broad incumbents

• Fresha: Global beauty and wellness booking platform and SaaS provider for salons and spas — broader incumbent in the same end-customer booking category as Urban, though more venue-centric.
• Booksy: Booking and business management software for beauty and wellness professionals with consumer marketplace — overlapping consumer discovery and scheduling functionality with Urban.
• Mindbody: Large US-based wellness and fitness booking platform serving spas, salons, and fitness studios — overlapping consumer wellness booking category with Urban at a broader, more established scale.

Emerging players

• Priv (priv.co): US mobile beauty services marketplace offering on-demand at-home hair, makeup, and nails — emerging player with direct overlap to Urban's beauty vertical.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Urbanappuk
• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/UrbanApp
• Facebookfacebook.com/urbanappuk
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/urbanappuk
• Instagraminstagram.com/urbanapp
• TikToktiktok.com/@urbanapp

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds10 records

Investors11 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A2 records

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Urban