Japan's VC Fund Akatsuki looking to Invest $500K Each in 5 Indian Startups in Vernacular Category

Tokyo, Japan-based Akatsuki Entertainment Technology (AET) Fund, a venture capital fund by Japan's highly regarded entertainment company, Akatsuki Inc., is looking to invest $500,000 each in five new early-stage startups in India that falls under vernacular category, reported LiveMint citing a top company executive.

The key focus areas of AET Fund in India will be consumer segments including vernacular video, vertical media, esports, mobile gaming, live streaming, among others, said the report citing statement of Yuki Kawamura, Principal Partner of EAT Fund.

According to AET’s Kawamura, India's vernacular content segment is largely unexplored with a tall demand-supply gap in the market.

Launched in India in March this year, AET has already made 10 early-stage investments in India with its Indi-dedicated $50 million fund. The portfolio companies of AET in India include Doubtnut, StayAbode, Planet Superheroes, LBB, Mech Mocha, and others.

Incorporated in 2010, AET fund actively invests in new forms of entertainment such as streaming services, voice assist, the gamification of existing industries and spreads beyond the bounds of conventional categories such as games, music, sports, beauty and fitness. We openly engage with all businesses that deliver emotional experiences.

AET typically do not leads the funding rounds but follows a co-investment model and contribute in fundraise having other VCs such as Accel Partners, Blume Ventures, Sequoia, Inventus, Chiratae, DSG, 3one4, Infoedge, and Shunwei.

Last December, Akatsuki contributed in $2 million funraise of ShoeKonnect, an Indore-headquartered B2B e-commerce startup. That round was led by Info Edge.

Supporting Akatsuki’s mission of creating a heart-driven world, AET Fund invests in startups that foster happiness and an overall positive well-being, with resources that optimize them for success.

Having operations in Los Angeles, Japan and India, AET Fund is focused on providing startups with seed funding, as well as collaborative insights, access to its vast network, human capital, corporate development, partnership opportunities, business discipline, developer resources and strategic insights for raising additional funds.

Co-living spaces Startup StayAbode Adds On to Pre Series A funding

StayAbode, a start-up that is building co-living spaces, has received an add on to pre Series A funding for an undisclosed amount from Voyage Group, Akatsuki and Incubate Fund.

StayAbode currently has 1200 beds live across 19+ properties in Bengaluru with a further 1000 beds contracted to go live in the next 6 months and is operating at 97% occupancy and has plans to expand to other cities in due course.

StayAbode recently tied up with CP Developers and is working on Asia’s largest A grade co-living project in India, with 1400 people living in a community environment, in the heart of Bengaluru’s Whitefield - a professional hub neighboring ITPL and large MNCs with a working population of over 50,000 millennials.

Viral Chhajer, Co-founder & CEO, StayAbode, says, “We are very excited to bring the Voyage Group on board as an investor. We have taken some interesting steps in the business after signing on our first greenfield development in Whitefield, while we continue to grow through our brownfield projects in Bangalore. With this top up on our pre-series A fundraise we’re going to grow our operating base and make key hires for the next phase of growth of the company.”

Tatsuya Hase, GM, Investment Division at Voyage Group, says, ‘We picked StayAbode, as our first investment in the Indian market as we believe co-living is the future of millennial living in India and we believe StayAbode is well placed to create great value in it and we are excited about the future of the company.”

Tomoya Ogawa, CFO at Akatsuki, Inc. and Managing Director of AET Fund, adds, “Looking at the past business growth led by Viral and his team, we are now even more confident that co-living is the future of living for millennials and Generation Z, and StayAbode will continue to lead and shape this exciting market. We look forward to continue supporting the team to enable and accelerate their growth story.”

Nao Murakami, General Partner at Incubate Fund India, further adds, ”Since we made an investment in August 2017, we have been closely working with StayAbode team. Our trust on promoters and sureness of their success has been reinforced over the last year. We, at Incubate Fund, are big believers of co-living as a real estate play and we think StayAbode would be one of the few winners of this rising model in India. So we made a follow-on investment on this round as well.”

StayAbode is using design, technology, service and brand to build co-living spaces for the rental residential market at scale. StayAbode’s co-living spaces support lifestyle of the young, single sociable household, enabling a high level of comfort, convenience and a sense of community with shared spaces such as kitchens, common areas, game areas, music, art corners and places to dine and work. Utility bills are paid, linen washed and one cooks only when one feels like along with daily housekeeping. It’s like living in a boutique hotel with a community of like-minded individuals. Through this way of living, StayAbode uses real-estate efficiently giving property owners upto 100% higher yield on their properties.

StayAbode was founded in 2016 by Viral Chhajer, Varun Bhalla and Devashish Dalmiya who have strong backgrounds in marketing, technology and finance. The company has raised angel funding followed by a pre-series A round of funding in July 2018 from a consortium of investors including Anupam Mittal, Vineet Sekhsaria, Lets Venture Legacy Global Projects MD Sanjay Shenoy and Mridul Upreti (ex Joint MD JLL India).

Co-living Spaces Startup StayAbode Raises Pre-Series A Funding

StayAbode, a start-up that is building co-living spaces, has closed a pre-Series A round of funding for an undisclosed amount from Anupam Mittal (CEO, People Group) and Vineet Sekhsaria (Head, Real Estate investing, Morgan Stanley) and Japanese gaming company Akatsuki Inc. The investment comes after a strategic round led by Incubate Fund and a group of investors from the real estate industry including Legacy Global Projects MD Sanjay Shenoy and Mridul Upreti (ex Joint MD JLL India) last year.

The funds are being used to scale the business and create more supply as demand increases. StayAbode currently has 950 beds live and is operating at 97% occupancy at 15 properties across Bengaluru and has plans to expand to other cities in due course. 12 more buildings are due to be launched in Bangalore as the company goes deeper into micro markets. The company continues to be operationally profitable.

Last August, the startup had raised an undisclosed amount from Incubate Fund and a group of investors from the real estate industry including Legacy Global Projects MD Sanjay Shenoy and Mridul Upreti (ex Joint MD JLL India). Prior to that, it raised angel funding, again for an undisclosed amount, from a consortium of investors led by Ishan Manaktala and Angie Mahtaney. Gaurav Bhalotia (Ex-VP Engineering, Flipkart), Vishal Lulla (CEO, VIshal Exports) and a group of Investors, in February last year.

Co-living is gradually becoming the preferred way of living for several reasons - saves money, is more fulfilling than living alone, people want to make/have friends to share common interests with and it’s easier to move in when shifting to a new city.

Viral Chhajer, Co-founder & CEO, StayAbode, says, “We’re excited to partner with investors that believe that co-living is the future of residential real-estate for millennials and see this as an opportunity to create a new asset class in real estate investing. Each of our investors brings on-board a unique perspective to our vision of redefining the way millennials live in our cities. Capital raised now will be primarily used to make key hires across verticals and set the base for our expansion into our cities across the country”.

Tomoya Ogawa, CFO at Akatsuki, Inc. and Managing Director of AET Fund, says, “We’re thrilled to partner with Viral and his team to support the growth of StayAbode. Co-living space is not just financially attractive, but will also enable millennials to have a more fulfilling and delightful living experience through bonding and social activities. We look forward to boosting this delight to the next level by offering our expertise in the entertainment-related field”.

Angel investor Anupam Mittal, adds, “Given land prices in the country, co-living is perhaps the only solution to India’s affordable housing woes. Co-living allows millennials to buy into a meaningful lifestyle without the hassle that comes with renting and without compromising on location and affordability in case of buying. The space is set to explode much like co-working has and so I am excited to back StayAbode with its excellent execution track record”.

StayAbode is leveraging technology, design, service and brand to build co-living spaces for the rental residential real estate market at scale. StayAbode’s co-living spaces mixes small private spaces – a bedroom and bathroom, with communal areas - common rooms, games areas, common kitchens and living rooms, music and art corners etc. At these co-living spaces one doesn’t need to be bothered about managing a household. The experience is that of a boutique hotel where - utility bills are paid, housekeeping is done, linen workfwashed and where one cooks only when one feels like. At these co-living spaces one can connect with like-minded people.

In June last year, the company filed for a provisional patent for its Workforce Management System that uses internal positioning systems which will allow them to efficiently manage their service teams including security and housekeeping.

StayAbode was co-founded in October 2016 by Viral Chhajer, Varun Bhalla and Devashish Dalmiya who have strong backgrounds in marketing, technology and finance having founded start-ups and previously worked at start-ups like Runnr, Treebo Hotels and Roadhouse Hostels.

Akatsuki is a world-leading mobile game developer and publisher based in Tokyo, Japan, and AET Fund is its corporate VC arm. The fund aims to contribute to the lifestyle change in India by leveraging Akatsuki’s expertise in entertainment. This is AET fund's first investment in India and with this they're now looking to make more investments in India.

[Top Image - www.facebook.com/stayabodecoliving/]

Co-living Spaces Startup StayAbode Raises Pre-Series A Funding

StayAbode, a start-up that is building co-living spaces, has closed a pre-Series A round of funding for an undisclosed amount from Anupam Mittal (CEO, People Group) and Vineet Sekhsaria (Head, Real Estate investing, Morgan Stanley) and Japanese gaming company Akatsuki Inc. The investment comes after a strategic round led by Incubate Fund and a group of investors from the real estate industry including Legacy Global Projects MD Sanjay Shenoy and Mridul Upreti (ex Joint MD JLL India) last year.

The funds are being used to scale the business and create more supply as demand increases. StayAbode currently has 950 beds live and is operating at 97% occupancy at 15 properties across Bengaluru and has plans to expand to other cities in due course. 12 more buildings are due to be launched in Bangalore as the company goes deeper into micro markets. The company continues to be operationally profitable.

Last August, the startup had raised an undisclosed amount from Incubate Fund and a group of investors from the real estate industry including Legacy Global Projects MD Sanjay Shenoy and Mridul Upreti (ex Joint MD JLL India). Prior to that, it raised angel funding, again for an undisclosed amount, from a consortium of investors led by Ishan Manaktala and Angie Mahtaney. Gaurav Bhalotia (Ex-VP Engineering, Flipkart), Vishal Lulla (CEO, VIshal Exports) and a group of Investors, in February last year.

Co-living is gradually becoming the preferred way of living for several reasons - saves money, is more fulfilling than living alone, people want to make/have friends to share common interests with and it’s easier to move in when shifting to a new city.

Viral Chhajer, Co-founder & CEO, StayAbode, says, “We’re excited to partner with investors that believe that co-living is the future of residential real-estate for millennials and see this as an opportunity to create a new asset class in real estate investing. Each of our investors brings on-board a unique perspective to our vision of redefining the way millennials live in our cities. Capital raised now will be primarily used to make key hires across verticals and set the base for our expansion into our cities across the country”.

Tomoya Ogawa, CFO at Akatsuki, Inc. and Managing Director of AET Fund, says, “We’re thrilled to partner with Viral and his team to support the growth of StayAbode. Co-living space is not just financially attractive, but will also enable millennials to have a more fulfilling and delightful living experience through bonding and social activities. We look forward to boosting this delight to the next level by offering our expertise in the entertainment-related field”.

Angel investor Anupam Mittal, adds, “Given land prices in the country, co-living is perhaps the only solution to India’s affordable housing woes. Co-living allows millennials to buy into a meaningful lifestyle without the hassle that comes with renting and without compromising on location and affordability in case of buying. The space is set to explode much like co-working has and so I am excited to back StayAbode with its excellent execution track record”.

StayAbode is leveraging technology, design, service and brand to build co-living spaces for the rental residential real estate market at scale. StayAbode’s co-living spaces mixes small private spaces – a bedroom and bathroom, with communal areas - common rooms, games areas, common kitchens and living rooms, music and art corners etc. At these co-living spaces one doesn’t need to be bothered about managing a household. The experience is that of a boutique hotel where - utility bills are paid, housekeeping is done, linen workfwashed and where one cooks only when one feels like. At these co-living spaces one can connect with like-minded people.

In June last year, the company filed for a provisional patent for its Workforce Management System that uses internal positioning systems which will allow them to efficiently manage their service teams including security and housekeeping.

StayAbode was co-founded in October 2016 by Viral Chhajer, Varun Bhalla and Devashish Dalmiya who have strong backgrounds in marketing, technology and finance having founded start-ups and previously worked at start-ups like Runnr, Treebo Hotels and Roadhouse Hostels.

Akatsuki is a world-leading mobile game developer and publisher based in Tokyo, Japan, and AET Fund is its corporate VC arm. The fund aims to contribute to the lifestyle change in India by leveraging Akatsuki’s expertise in entertainment. This is AET fund's first investment in India and with this they're now looking to make more investments in India.

[Top Image - www.facebook.com/stayabodecoliving/]