Placio acquires subscription-based foodtech startup Paco Meals
After raising $2 million in pre-series A funding, Placio, Delhi-NCR based student housing startup has acquired subscription based foodtech company Paco Meals.
Placio has additionally raised $50,000 seed funding to fuel the growth of the food business. The acquisition will help Placio provide students living in their hostels with nutritious food.
While the details of the deal were undisclosed, both Placio and Paco teams will be working towards creating well-designed menus to suit the student palate. The founders of Placio add that they intend to transform student living with nutritious and tasty food.
“The good news is that Placio now extends this outlook to even students living in non-Placio properties. Taking over Paco Meals will now make us realise our dreams - by unrestricted provision of meals to all students in other student housing also,” says Rohit Pateria, Co-founder Placio.
Paco, focusses on creating innovative, sustainable and healthy food options. The company ensures that the menu is not repeated at least for three months. It also focusses on bringing "near to home" cooked meals as students are invited to bring their favourite recipes from home, especially those for vegetarian and ethnic dishes.
The founders of Paco Meals, Nitin Joshi and Parul Tusele add that they understand the the needs of bachelors and students as they have experienced unappetising meals during their stay in college hostels.
This unpleasant experience led them to start in 2016 to provide wholesome and nutritious meals at subsidised prices for bachelors and students who were on a lean budget.
"Placio today has given me an opportunity to provide the residents and students with hygienic and nutritious meals filled with variety and flavour at all Placio’s housing in Delhi, Greater Noida, Noida Laxmi Nagar, Indore and Lucknow,” says Nitin.
The market for student accommodation seems to be growing even in India, where it is believed to be worth $3 million. A survey conducted last year suggested that there were close to 50 lakh students enrolling in colleges and universities across 20 cities in the country.
Of these, close to 54 percent were from other cities, and only 4.8 lakh hostel seats were available for the base of 27.5 lakh students. This meant that the remaining students had to seek accommodation at PGs or flats.