Stanza Living raises $10M from Sequoia India and others

Delhi-based student accommodation startup Stanza Living will use the funds to expand, and strengthen its technology and team.

Student accommodation startup Stanza Living has raised a total of Rs 73 crore ($10 million) in an investment round that was led by Sequoia India and saw the participation of Matrix and Accel Partners. The development comes nine months after the Delhi-based startup raised its first round of institutional funding from Matrix and Accel Partners in November 2017.

The company said it will deploy the funds raised to expand its market beyond Delhi-NCR region. Apart from expanding its reach, it also plans to use the funds raised to strengthen its technology and team.

Speaking to YourStory, Anindya Dutta, Managing Director and Co-founder, Stanza Living, said, “By the next 12 months, we are planning to enter markets like Pune, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad. Apart from these cities, we are also planning to tap Tier II cities.”

Stanza Living was founded by Sandeep Dalmia and Anindya Dutta in 2017. While Dalmia is an alumnus of Delhi College of Engineering and IIM Ahmedabad, Dutta is an alumnus of IIT Kharagpur and IIM Ahmedabad.

Co-living experience

Anindya said, “Currently we have 16 properties with a total capacity of 2,000 beds. We plan to have 100 properties by the end of the next 12 months. The student housing segment in India offers immense potential but remains largely unorganised. We are determined to transform this segment by offering a professionally managed co-living experience that mirrors international standards. The funding will enable us to unlock multiple opportunities that we’ve identified across important educational hubs and exponentially grow the Stanza community across the country.”

Unlike a marketplace or aggregator, the company is a full-stack startup that provides amenities and services owned by it.

Sandeep Dalmia, Managing Director and Co-Founder, Stanza Living, said, “We understand that a student’s lifestyle is extremely distinct. Our industry-first, full-stack business model fundamentally enables us to design our co-living spaces, and tailor our services to cater to their specific needs and desires. It allows us to set up and manage end-to-end operations, which we believe is absolutely critical to ensure an unmatched experience for our residents.”

Ashish Agrawal, Principal, Sequoia Capital India Advisors, said, “Stanza’s team and their execution is impressive, and Sequoia India is delighted to partner with them in their vision to provide quality housing to students in India. Student housing is an established asset class in the west and we believe Stanza, with its scalable business model and strong economics, can create the asset class in India.”