Pronto defends AI camera pilot after privacy backlash; rivals Urban Company, Snabbit distance themselves

Bengaluru-based home services startup Pronto has pushed back against criticism over reports that some of its service professionals were recording videos inside customers’ homes as part of an AI training initiative, saying the programme is fully opt-in and compliant with India’s data protection rules.

The controversy erupted after journalist Harsh Upadhyay alleged in a post on X that Pronto was “turning Indian homes into training grounds” for its investors’ Physical AI ambitions. The post claimed that Pronto professionals were using “small outward-facing cameras during select opt-in jobs”, triggering a wider debate around privacy and the use of AI training data inside private homes.

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Responding to the criticism, Pronto said recordings are carried out only when customers explicitly agree to participate in the programme and pay for it separately.

“Unless you have opted-in and paid for the program personally, the Pro doesn't come to the house with a camera. Opt in is not one time, it has to be affirmed before each booking. By default there is no camera involved, and when there is, it's impossible to miss,” the company said in a post on X.

The startup added that the pilot currently covers only “0.1% of customers” and claimed it spent “months to ensure full DPDP compliance”.

Founded in April 2025 by 23-year-old Anjali Sardana, Pronto operates a platform connecting households with domestic workers for services such as cleaning, laundry, mopping, utensil washing and bathroom cleaning.  

The startup has rapidly scaled over the past year. Earlier this month, it raised $20 million in an extension round led by Lachy Groom, co-founder of AI robotics company Physical Intelligence and an early investor in Zepto.

Pronto has now closed its Series B funding round at $45 million, taking its valuation to $200 million, double the valuation it achieved roughly a month earlier. The company claims its daily bookings have risen to 26,000, while its workforce has expanded to 6,500 professionals. To date, it has raised around $60 million from investors including General Catalyst, Bain Capital Ventures, Glade Brook and Epiq Capital.

The backlash also prompted responses from Pronto’s competitors, who sought to distance themselves from the practice.

Urban Company CEO Abhiraj Singh Bhal said the company neither records inside customers’ homes nor plans to introduce such a system.

“In light of recent reports regarding recordings inside customers’ homes by one of our competitors, many people have asked whether Urban Company engages in anything similar, or intends to do so in the future. The answer is clear and unequivocal: we do not,” Bhal wrote on X.

Similarly, Snabbit founder Aayush Agarwal said the company has “no intention” of deploying recording technology inside customers’ homes.

“No customer's home has ever been recorded by us, in any way,” Agarwal said in a statement posted on X. “When customers let our Experts in, they place immense trust in us: that our Experts are verified, well-trained, and that their privacy is absolute.”