These 6 homegrown startups are redefining coliving in India

In the past few years, coliving spaces have become a rage among students and young working professionals, especially in the metros. 

Coliving spaces offer basic amenities at hand, and also have common areas like the cafeteria, conference room, gym, and other facilities.

While the pandemic posed several challenges for the sector, working professionals are now slowly getting back to their normal work life as most companies are opting for a hybrid work culture. This has resulted in an increased demand for co-living spaces as they offer well-furnished, cleaned, and well-maintained spaces.

According to IBEF, there are more than 75 coliving companies in India. By 2025, the coliving market in India is expected to grow to 5.7 million from 4.19 million. The size of the sector across India’s top 30 cities is expected to grow two-fold and reach $13.92 billion from $6.67 billion at present.

According to Colliers’ report, by 2024, the sector is expected to have 4,50,000 beds driven by organised

players.

YourStory lists six startups that offer upgraded accommodation for students and professionals away from home.

Stanza Living

Founded in 2017 by Sandeep Dalmia and Anindya Dutta, Delhi-based Stanza Living is a tech-enabled managed accommodation startup. It offers a range of amenities such as chef-curated F&B options, housekeeping and laundry, 24*7 security systems, fun recreation facilities, high-speed internet, community programmes, mobility services, and more.

It aims to create a hassle-free living experience for many migrating students and working professionals.

Recently, the startup raised $57 million in debt financing led by Kotak Mahindra Bank and RBL Bank and others for its current and future projects and expansion.

Stanza Living claims to have an inventory of more than 75,000 for students and working professionals in 23 cities across India. Also, the startup recently launched a new business vertical in the form of campus facility management.

Settl

Founded in 2020 by Abhishek Tripathi, Bharath Bhaskar, and Ashok Reddy, Bengaluru-based Settl was started amid the pandemic to ensure safe, furnished, clean and ready-to-move properties for migrants with 24*7 power backups, high-speed internet, regular cleaning and maintenance. It aims to make students and young professionals feel at home and settled in a new city.

“Settl is a technology-driven accommodation platform focused on providing a convenient and high-quality living experience for young millennials. The startup aims to create experiences and foster communities through state-of-the-art, technology-enabled co-living spaces,” Abhishek said YourStory in a previous interview.

In November 2021, the startup raised $500k from ah! Ventures, We Founder Circle, and others to enhance the technology stack and acquire more supplies.

“We are building a network that caters to the modern needs of flexi living where Settl brings thoughtfully designed spaces and curated experiences with a bunch of amenities that makes city living effortless,” said Bharath.

Your-Space 

Founded in 2016 by Shubha Lal and Nidhi Kumra, New Delhi-based Your-Space is a student housing place for students. It offers services such as 24*7 security guards, CCTVs, biometrics access, wi-fi connectivity, air-conditioning, laundry, gym, and study rooms.

The startup has more than 7,000 operational beds and aims to have over 20,000 beds by July 2022. The company is currently operational across locations in Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Jalandhar, Bengaluru, Pune, Noida, Dehradun, Jaipur, and Indore, with operations in Hyderabad and Kolkata underway.

In January, the startup raised $10 million in Series A funding in a combination of pure equity and convertible debentures led by Shantanu Ratogi of General Atlantic, Ajay Gupta’s (Capital Foods) family office AJAX capital and others for growth, focusing on metros and Tier I cities and to spearhead its operations to improve user experience.

The startup uses tech-based approaches for a student-based environment and has over 60 smart spaces.

Shantanu said: “There is a significant unmet need for safe, comfortable, convenient and affordable lodging and community spaces for 30M+ migrant undergrad and post-grad students in India. India needs high-quality student housing operators to address this large and growing demand alongside high-quality universities and institutions. 

CoLive

Founded in 2016 by Suresh Rangarajan, Bengaluru-based home rental startup Colive offers rentable branded fully-furnished serviced homes, equipped with upgraded facilities with an inventory of more than 40,000 beds.

Back in May 2021, the startup launched a campaign to provide 25,000 free room nights for healthcare workers. The campaign saw over 60 healthcare workers, including nurses and doctors using the facility across 12 properties.

Suresh said, “CoLive is committed to making affordable rented living spaces in urban areas easily accessible to students, young professionals, and young couples, who can thereby enjoy better living conditions without having to face discrimination from landlords. SAR Family Office’s investment in CoLive is not only a definite validation of the company’s business model, but also an opportunity for us to grow further and help solve the urban living conundrum in India by providing one million living spaces."

In February 2018, the startup raised Rs 12 crore from Ncubate Capital Partners for expanding footprints and enhancing technology infrastructure.

NestAway 

Founded by Deepak Dhar, Jitendra Jagadev, and Amarendra Sahu in 2015, Bengaluru-based home rental startup NestAway provides affordable rental solutions to individuals.

In 2019, the startup raised $10 million from Tiger Global and Chiratae Ventures as a part of its Series D round, according to their regulatory filings with the MCA. 

In February 2020, NestAway acquired apartment management solution ApnaComplex to accelerate the growth of both companies by offering better value to its target audience.

Isthara 

Founded by Gilbert James Laurduraj in 2017, Coimbatore-based coliving space provider startup Isthara offers fully-furnished shared living accommodation for students and working professionals, including daily meals, high-speed internet, gym, laundry, housekeeping services, etc.

In 2019, the startup raised $5.7 million from a Mumbai-based sector-agnostic growth-capital private equity fund, JM Financial India Fund II for expansion of its existing markets of Bengaluru, Delhi-NCR, and Hyderabad region and also in other cities in Asia.