Student Housing Startup PLACIO Enters Co-Living Segment; Partners with Arabian Link for 3000+ Rooms in Kuwait

In a strategic move, PLACIO, a Student Housing company has announced its foray into the International market thus venturing for the first time into the co-living segment. PLACIO has partnered with Kuwait based Managed Housing Company, Arabian Link for its first overseas venture. Arabian Link has chosen PLACIO from many other Professional Co- Living O&M companies in India and GCC region to expand its operational bandwidth across the GCC.

PLACIO signed this contract to manage 3000+ rooms as an O&M Partner and in Phase 1 rolling out its cutting edge technology platform, setting up staff training program, implementation of Standard Operating Procedure, with an aim to deliver quality living spaces coupled with specialized and customized services. PLACIO and Arabian Link shall jointly expand in GCC region including Qatar, UAE, Oman and Bahrain.

Founded by Mustafa Shikora, Arabian Link is a decade old Co Living/ Corporate Housing company in Kuwait. Mustafa is astute professional with post graduate in Science, having 20yrs+ experience in the Insurance, Investments, Hospitality & Real Estate industries. The company has set the hallmark of execution in Hospitality, facility management and User experience. With this initiative, Arabian Link brings its Global experience in Hospitality and real estate management which significantly compliment PLACIO business. Arabian Link is the largest Co-Living and Managed Rental Company in Kuwait with Annual revenues of USD 10 Million.

According to Mustafa Shikora, “the co-living segment, an emerging sector in real estate, has the potential to grow into a $93-billion market in India. In India, the co-living sector has total untapped demand of approximately 63 million beds, out of which 30 million is from student housing. This segment suffers from huge mismatch between demand and supply. He further added that with keen interest in Indian Co-Living and Student Housing Market, he could find out great synergy in PLACIO.”

Speaking on entering the global market, Rohit Pateria, Founder – PLACIO, “After gaining rich experience in managing student housing operations and hospitality in India, our next move is towards the co-living segment that has huge potential globally. Globally, the concept of co-living is cost effective, however in India it is still at a nascent and evolving stage. He further added that as per Knight Frank survey, 34 per cent of the country's population comprises millennials - who have a penchant for frequently switching jobs and homes every few months - and it is this demographics that will continue to drive the consumption story across sectors”.

“Our partnership with Arabian Link is our first move to enter the global market and we are very much excited to deliver our best, globally, too”, adds, Mr. Pateria.

Arabian Link is a Managed Housing and Co Living Company, providing furnished apartments with managed Services. Since inception in 2008, Arabian Link has worked extremely hard to become one of the leaders in providing "Complete Housing Solutions" to individuals and corporate clients. The company is one of the largest Serviced apartments firms in Kuwait boasting an impressive array of properties all across Kuwait. The company’s residential management portfolio covers all areas of Kuwait.
 
Founded in 2016 in NOIDA, Uttar Pradesh, PLACIO provides housing solutions to students with customized services to experience modern and secured concept of co-living. PLACIO offers modern spaces, fully-furnished rooms, private rooms, personal apartments, food, 24x7 emergency line, guard on duty, security, parents’ help-line, air-conditioning, unlimited Wi-Fi, laundry services, Café, Gym and medical care. PLACIO properties are located at best localities in and around university campuses with trailblazing amenities.

PLACIO is incubated by Amity Business Incubator, NOIDA and received $2 million funding from Singapore based Private Equity firm, Prestellar Ventures and Chicago based Shikora Investment. Placio currently manages 3000+ Beds having presence in Delhi, NOIDA, Greater NOIDA, Lucknow and Indore.

PLACIO is eying big opportunity as Management Company and forging partnerships with Universities, Higher Education Institutions and corporates for Operations and Management of its Student Hostels and Co Living properties. For the year 2019-20 it is expanding to cities such as Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Kota.

PLACIO is founded by Rohit Pateria who is a Chartered Accountant with over 18 Year of Corporate working Experience. He had taken plunge to start entrepreneur journey in 2016.

Student Housing Startup Placio Raises $2 Mn Via Prestellar Ventures

Noida-based student housing startup Placio has raised $2 million in pre-series-A funding from Prestellar Ventures, a Singapore-based private equity, reported Economic Times.

The fund raised will be use by the startup to provide superior student living experience in India and South-East Asia, and also to increase its existing capacity by 20 times by end of 2018 by leveraging on the network and experience of the Prestellar Ventures in redefining student hostel hospitality sector.

Founded in March 2016 by Rohit Pateria and Ankush Arora, Placio is an Amity Innovation Incubator incubated startup that offers student housing and a complete broker-free platform that inspires community living. It's digital platform carefully curates modern living spaces, fully-furnished rooms, private rooms and personal apartments in some of the best localities in and around University Campuses, which are available within all budget ranges.

"Placio has been able to address the needs of the rapidly expanding college student population of India- by providing safe, clean, amenity-filled housing with a strong community and technology backbone. The company has been able to grow its footprint so far with limited resources and we hope to provide the company with capital and our in-house platform for its next phase of exponential growth." said Rabindra Shrestha, Managing Partner of Prestellar Ventures.

In India, Placio competes with other such startup like Delhi-based Stanza Living and StudentAcco and also Zolo, which caters to PG segment. Stanza Living is backed by investors like Matrix and Accel Partners while Zolo had raised $5 million from Nexus Venture Partners, in January 2017. Studentacco, which is also based out of Noida is bootstrapped.

To recall, Flatchat founder Gaurav Munjal had also founded similar student accommodation platform called Flat.to which later got acquired by Commonfloor, in 2014.

The market for student accommodation seems to be growing in India, where it is believed to be worth $3 million. A survey conducted in 2016 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.

Student Housing Startup Placio Raises $2 Mn Via Prestellar Ventures

Noida-based student housing startup Placio has raised $2 million in pre-series-A funding from Prestellar Ventures, a Singapore-based private equity, reported Economic Times.

The fund raised will be use by the startup to provide superior student living experience in India and South-East Asia, and also to increase its existing capacity by 20 times by end of 2018 by leveraging on the network and experience of the Prestellar Ventures in redefining student hostel hospitality sector.

Founded in March 2016 by Rohit Pateria and Ankush Arora, Placio is an Amity Innovation Incubator incubated startup that offers student housing and a complete broker-free platform that inspires community living. It's digital platform carefully curates modern living spaces, fully-furnished rooms, private rooms and personal apartments in some of the best localities in and around University Campuses, which are available within all budget ranges.

"Placio has been able to address the needs of the rapidly expanding college student population of India- by providing safe, clean, amenity-filled housing with a strong community and technology backbone. The company has been able to grow its footprint so far with limited resources and we hope to provide the company with capital and our in-house platform for its next phase of exponential growth." said Rabindra Shrestha, Managing Partner of Prestellar Ventures.

In India, Placio competes with other such startup like Delhi-based Stanza Living and StudentAcco and also Zolo, which caters to PG segment. Stanza Living is backed by investors like Matrix and Accel Partners while Zolo had raised $5 million from Nexus Venture Partners, in January 2017. Studentacco, which is also based out of Noida is bootstrapped.

To recall, Flatchat founder Gaurav Munjal had also founded similar student accommodation platform called Flat.to which later got acquired by Commonfloor, in 2014.

The market for student accommodation seems to be growing in India, where it is believed to be worth $3 million. A survey conducted in 2016 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.

Here’s How Entrepreneurs Unwind Themselves From Stressful Startup Environment

Are you an entrepreneur? Want to unwind yourself from your hectic schedule? If the answer to all these questions is yes, then you have landed to the right page.

If you still believe that becoming an entrepreneur is an easy task, then you are wrong. Entrepreneurs life juggles between the office files, meetings, networking to scale its company to write his success history. When you're running a startup, everybody has certain expectations from you. Your founding team, your employees, your investors as well as your family. There's a lot of mental perseverance which is demanded in such situations. And in a race to maintain everyone's expectations, entrepreneurs tend to forget themselves and are stuck in the stressful world of startups.

I am sure you must be thinking how successful entrepreneurs keep pace with their life while keeping work-life balanced? Is it a book, coffee, drink with a friend, family outing or fun trips that unwind these successful entrepreneurs and keep them stay focused. So, to find out the answer to this, IndianWeb2 interacted with some startup founders to know how they unwind themselves from their hectic schedule. Read here, what they have to say:

I Spend Time Alone

Hammad Jilani, Founder and CEO, Dogether

''In my opinion, startups are extremely difficult. All the odds are against you. From building a team to developing the MVP, to getting traction and user retention: everything is against you. In such times, it is necessary for the founder to keep his calm. In situations of stress, I usually like to spend time alone, clear out my mind and think fresh. I travel frequently which helps me relax.”

A Long Drive With My Family

Ankush Arora, Director and Co-founder, PLACIO

“Entrepreneurs rarely think of relaxing. They often live and breathe their businesses. However, unwinding themselves gives the necessary energy to face the upcoming challenges in their business. My idea to unwind is simple – a long drive with my family, catching up friends or stay hooked to any digital platform that excites me. A little relaxation is enough to keep my productivity up and let the creative juices flow.”

I Try To Steal Some Moments To Read

Purba Kalita, Co-founder, SaleBhai.com

"I choose to begin my day with what is an essential part of life -- workout. It comprises running, stretching, free hand exercises, and currently, I am also undergoing martial arts (Shōrin-ryū) training. That's followed by meditation, which helps me put the day's work in perspective. As most of the time work stretches beyond office hours, I don't have to then worry about missing my exercise. I apply the same logic here that people associate with work: never keep away something for later if you can do it now. Simply because you never know if you can make the time for it later. I also enjoy swimming but since it's an evening activity for me, I can catch up with it only occasionally, mostly weekends. I also love to read, so I try to steal some moments for it after work."

Go Out For Cycling and Swimming With My kids

Gurinder Bhatti, Chairman and Managing Director, ESS Global

"After a hectic day at work, I love spending quality time with my kids and family. Generally, I go out for cycling and swimming with my kids. I personally feel for a healthy mind you need to be fit. So I never miss my gym workout. No matter how tired I am I regularly go to the gym which helps me in relaxing. And last but not the least I am an avid reader and I make sure that every day I am devoting at least 30 minutes daily towards reading as it refreshes the mind."

Cycling Is Like Meditation For Me

Bhavishya Wadhawan, Founder, 98fit

“I believe in the quote, ‘Nothing great in the world has ever been achieved without passion’. My work is my passion. However, I do keep a part of the week for my other interests such as playing guitar and drums. I am an avid cyclist and it is like meditation for me which provides me peace and energy to achieve more in life. Cycling, playing squash and badminton with friends helps me unwind. I certainly spend time with my family which is most important part of my life.”

My 7-year-old Son Is My Stress Buster

Vijaybabu Gandhi, Co-founder, Flintobox.com

“Whenever I need to unwind, I switch off my phone and play with my seven-year-old son, Aadhav. A good time with him teaches me what my priorities are, how to live in the present and laugh at simple things in life. I try to look at the world through my son's eyes - he takes me through a different journey, a beautiful one. When I'm with him, I forget the time, targets and outcomes, I roll with the flow and it rejuvenates and revitalizes my day. There is nothing better than getting lost in the world of a child, and becoming a child again!”