Stanza Living to Invest Rs 400 Cr in 2 Yrs on Expansion of Co-Living Business

Co-living operator Stanza Living will invest Rs 400 crore over the next two years on expansion as it sees opportunities in the rental accommodation business despite the coronavirus-triggered slowdown.

Founded in 2017, Stanza Living has so far raised USD 70 million from investors like Falcon Edge Capital, Sequoia Capital, Accel, Matrix Partners and Alteria Capital. 

It currently has 200 centres across 14 cities with a total capacity of 55,000 beds, which are being provided in the price range of Rs 4,000-25,000 per bed. 

"We are seeing a limited impact on our business. Our revenue has been hit marginally by around 2 per cent. Most of the students have gone back to their home but they are occupying our beds and paying rents," Stanza Living Co-founder and MD Anindya Dutta said.

The company has given some relief to its student members by providing discounts on rentals, he added. 

Dutta expressed confidence about the growth potential of the co-living business post COVID-19.

However, at present there is no clarity about when the new session will start in colleges and universities because of the lockdown, he added.

"Education is important. As and when situations normalise, students will come back to study," he said. 

Earlier this year, Stanza Living decided to diversify its business and provide rental accommodations for working professionals as well.  

Asked about expansion plans, Dutta said: "We are not deferring our expansion plans. We are targeting to add 50,000 beds in 12-18 months." 

Around half of the capacity addition would be for student housing and the remaining for working professionals.

On planned investment for expansion, Dutta said the company will be investing around Rs 400 crore over the next two years. 

"We have enough capital for our growth plan. We do not need to raise fresh funds," he added. 

In a recent study, News Corp and Softbank-backed realty portal PropTiger termed the co-living space as "real estate goldmine" and said the segment has the potential to become a USD 93 billion market annually on rising demand from students and professionals.

Stanza Living strengthens position as India’s largest shared living company, with expansion into working professionals category

Stanza Living, India’s largest student housing company, has expanded its value proposition by launching customized living spaces for working professionals. Starting with a combined 10,000 beds capacity across Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune and Coimbatore, this will be a separate business line designed around the lifestyle needs of working professionals. At the same time, the company will continue deepening the foothold of its flagship student housing business in new and existing markets.

The shared living sector in India has largely been fragmented and unorganized, suffering from infrastructure and service quality gaps like – ill maintained and cramped buildings, poor quality food, lack of access to daily facilities and more. Stanza Living was conceptualized to reimagine this experience with its end-to-end managed, service-focused, technology-enabled living and accommodation solutions designed to suit the lifestyle needs of the new-age migrant consumer. Consumers can access a host of high-quality living solutions including vibrant, adaptively-designed residence spaces, chef-curated meals, WiFi, laundry service, housekeeping and round the clock security for hassle-free living.

[caption id="attachment_142462" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Stanza Living Entertainment Area[/caption]

Stanza Living’s solutions for working professionals have been developed after10 months of research and planning, which also included interviews with 3,000 graduating students, entry-level working professionals, and property owners. The insights gathered on their lifestyle requirements have been used to create a customized shared living space for migrant working professionals.

Speaking on the business line extension, Anindya Dutta, MD and Co-founder, Stanza Living, said, “After building India’s largest student living company and successfully catering to student requirements across 10 cities, we feel this is the appropriate time to foray into the working professional category. Like our student offering, we have invested in understanding the nuanced needs of working professionals and will be launching a separate product offering designed for their lifestyle requirements. We are on target to grow this category multifold and consolidate our position as India’s largest shared living operator.”

Sandeep Dalmia, MD and Co-founder, Stanza Living, said “Our foray into the working professionals category follows the journey of our student consumers. As they graduate and become potential migrant working professionals, we want to continue delivering an aspirational lifestyle solution adaptable to their evolving needs, wherever they migrate. We are excited to launch our holistic value proposition with 10,000 beds addressing the discerning needs of the diverse migrant working population.”

In 2019, over 20 million Indians migrated domestically in search of better career and lifestyle opportunities. However, owing to the lack of quality accommodations, they have been dependent on sub-par, unorganized housing options. This has stoked the demand for high-quality, plug-and-play living spaces that are economical, accessible, and convenient. With its latest offering, Stanza Living will be able to combat this unaddressed crisis faced by India’s migrant population and offer dedicated living ecosystems tailored to the lifestyle needs of students and professionals. The company has already recorded early interest from existing consumers for its new vertical. Stanza Living is also exploring preferred residence-partner engagement with over 15companies, for its working professionals category.

Conceptualized to re-imagine shared living experience, Stanza Living is aa hospitality-led, fully-managed, technology-enabled offering, designed for migrant youth in India. Consumers can access a host of high-quality living solutions including vibrant, adaptively-designed residence spaces, chef-curated meals, WiFi, laundry service, housekeeping and round the clock security, for hassle-free living.

Student Housing Startup Stanza Living Raises Funds from Equity International

Stanza Living, which is into student housing, on Tuesday said it has raised funds from US-based private equity firm Equity International, but did not disclose the amount.

An affiliate of Equity International (EI), Sam Zell's investment firm focused on building businesses globally, has invested in Stanza Living, a company statement said.

The investment is part of Stanza Living's Series C equity financing round, which saw participation from company's existing institutional investors -- Falcon Edge Capital, Sequoia India, Matrix and Accel Partners, it added.

The funds would be utilised to scale the portfolio, expand geographic footprint, and solidify brand positioning.

This marks Equity International's second investment in India since 2011.

Stanza Living has raised USD 70 million (about Rs 500 crore) funding since its inception in 2017.

EI's Chief Executive Officer Tom Heneghan said, "Stanza Living addresses the under-served demand for high-quality, standardized housing in a market with approximately 20 million migrant millennial population."

Stanza Living has footprint across ten key cities like Delhi, NCR, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Indore, Coimbatore, Chennai, Vadodara, Dehradun. The company was founded by IIT-IIM alumni Anindya Dutta and Sandeep Dalmia.

Founded by Zell in 1999, Chicago-based Equity International Management is a private equity firm focused primarily on building high-quality businesses outside the United States. PTI MJH

Student Accommodation Firm Stanza Living Launches App for Real-Estate Owners

World-class student residence provider, Stanza Living, launched Stanza Estate app, designed to enable quick and efficient listing of properties. The app was launched as part of its growth strategy to reach one lakh bed-capacity by 2021. The app will allow property owners, brokers, real estate consultants and developers, to partner with Stanza Living in an effective manner, to create bespoke, high-quality student accommodations. It will help create an ecosystem of property owners across the country, to launch student accommodations in key educational hubs like Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, Indore, Ahmedabad, among others.

Stanza Living operates a full-stack business model that transforms properties into student-friendly residences, provides a wide array of amenities for a hassle-free living experience and ensures end-to-end service delivery management. The company has recently received a fresh funding of $10 million, from marquee global investors like Sequoia Capital, Matrix and Accel Partners.

Speaking about the launch Anindya Dutta and Sandeep Dalmia, Co-founders, Stanza Living, said “We are on an aggressive growth path and have an ambition to target a capacity of over one lakh beds by 2021. Our intent is to create a pan-India student housing brand so that the millions of migrating students in the country can be assured of a high-quality residential experience. The Stanza Estate App is the first step to engage like-minded property owners, brokers and consultants and work together to create a high-yield proposition. We will be launching a series of outreach programmes to engage potential partners and find synergies, as we build a world-class student brand.”

Speaking about the impact on business efficiencies, they said “Launched as a pure listing platform, future updates of the app will have powerful data analytics engines and property evaluation algorithms to allow real-time evaluation of the viability of a property as a student living asset. This will create an efficient information exchange and operational liaison between our business teams, allow real-time updates to our potential partners and faster sourcing of property supply to grow our footprint."

The Stanza Estate App provides:

• An intuitive interface and easy navigation enabling the user to share a repository of comprehensive property details




• Real-time update on property assessment, shortlisting and selection

The Stanza Living team will subsequently partner to transform selected properties into student accommodations and take care of complete everyday operations.

Student housing is a largely unorganized market, which suffers significant infrastructure and service quality gaps. Despite being a high-demand sector generating revenues of over $15 billion, there has been no significant disruption in the sector to deliver a high-quality student community-living product. Stanza Living is focusing on reimagining the student living experience in India, to ensure that the over 11 million migrant students in the country can enjoy global standard housing solutions.

Student Co-living Startup Stanza Living Raises $10 Mn in Funding led by Sequoia India

Delhi headquartered Stanza Living, a tech-enabled co-living concept startup which is re-imagining student housing in India, has raised a total of Rs 73 crore (USD 10 million) in an investment round led by Sequoia India. This is in addition to Rs 13 crores (USD 2 million) that the company had raised in its first round of institutional funding from Matrix and Accel Partners in November 2017.

With the funding in place, Stanza Living will focus on strengthening its three key business pillars of technology, people and network of operations. The startup is also aiming to strengthen its position as one of India’s largest student co-living companies.

Technology is at the centre of Stanza Living’s business and is one of its core differentiators. The fresh funding will be channelled to bolster the company’s tech engine that drives effectiveness in project management, efficiency in business operations and enables personalised service delivery. Stanza Living will further leverage the funding to expand to multiple markets and strengthen its core leadership team while onboarding specialised talent across functions.

Commenting on the funding, Anindya Dutta, Managing Director and Co-Founder, Stanza Living, said, “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 mirror international standards. We currently operate 15+ residences in Delhi NCR with a total capacity of 2000 beds. 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.”

“Marquee global players investing in Stanza Living underlines the confidence the investor community has in our business model,” said Sandeep Dalmia, Managing Director and Co-Founder, Stanza Living.

“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,” he added.

“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”, said Ashish Agrawal, Principal, Sequoia Capital India Advisors.

Gourav Bhattacharya, Director, Matrix India, commented “We are very excited about the progress the Stanza team has made over the last 12 months, and think they have a unique opportunity to create a large company by organizing the student housing space. Their approach is a win-win for students and parents through better experience, as well as supply owners through better economics. We are delighted to continue supporting Anindya and Sandeep on their journey."

Abhinav Chaturvedi, Principal at Accel added, "We are delighted to continue our partnership with Stanza Living. In a short period of time, Stanza has become the go-to place for student accommodation in Delhi/NCR. The new money will help expand the Stanza brand to other parts of the Indian market."

Stanza Living is challenging the status quo when it comes to student community living through dedicated programmes like ‘Stanza Springboard’, which focuses on providing career enhancement opportunities, and ‘Stanza Social’, centred around year-long community engagement events as well as exclusive discounted access to a curated list of restaurants, brands and experiences.

In July this year, StayAbode, an another co-living spaces startup, had raised 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.

Last November, Stanza Living had raised ₹13 Crore in its first round of institutional funding via Matrix Partners and Accel Partners.

Stanza Living was co-founded by Sandeep Dalmia and Anindya Dutta in 2017. Dalmia is an alumnus of Delhi College of Engineering and IIM Ahmedabad. Prior to Stanza, he was a Principal at Boston Consulting Group. Dutta was previously a Real Estate investor with Oaktree Capital and prior to that, he worked at Goldman Sachs In London. He is an alumnus of IIT Kharagpur and IIM Ahmedabad.

Stanza Living is a tech-enabled co-living concept which is re-imagining student housing in India by transforming it into an experience product, in-line with evolved hospitality sectors like hotels and serviced apartments. From smart-space planning in residences to gamifying delivery of food for operational effectiveness, from exclusive community engagement programmes to delivering reliable and standardized services through technology integration, Stanza Living operates with a full-stack business model that puts students at the heart of its product and service design, development and execution. The company currently operates in Delhi-NCR and plans to expand its presence across multiple student markets in the country in the coming months.

In India, Stanza Living competes with Delhi-based Placio, StayAbode, StudentAcco and also Zolo, which caters to PG segment. Placio had raised $2 million in pre-series-A funding from Prestellar Ventures, a Singapore-based private equity, while Zolo had raised $5 million from Nexus Venture Partners, in January 2017.

[Top Image - (L-R) Sandeep Dalmia and Anindya Dutta, Co-Founders, Stanza Living]

Student Co-living Startup Stanza Living Raises $10 Mn in Funding led by Sequoia India

Delhi headquartered Stanza Living, a tech-enabled co-living concept startup which is re-imagining student housing in India, has raised a total of Rs 73 crore (USD 10 million) in an investment round led by Sequoia India. This is in addition to Rs 13 crores (USD 2 million) that the company had raised in its first round of institutional funding from Matrix and Accel Partners in November 2017.

With the funding in place, Stanza Living will focus on strengthening its three key business pillars of technology, people and network of operations. The startup is also aiming to strengthen its position as one of India’s largest student co-living companies.

Technology is at the centre of Stanza Living’s business and is one of its core differentiators. The fresh funding will be channelled to bolster the company’s tech engine that drives effectiveness in project management, efficiency in business operations and enables personalised service delivery. Stanza Living will further leverage the funding to expand to multiple markets and strengthen its core leadership team while onboarding specialised talent across functions.

Commenting on the funding, Anindya Dutta, Managing Director and Co-Founder, Stanza Living, said, “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 mirror international standards. We currently operate 15+ residences in Delhi NCR with a total capacity of 2000 beds. 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.”

“Marquee global players investing in Stanza Living underlines the confidence the investor community has in our business model,” said Sandeep Dalmia, Managing Director and Co-Founder, Stanza Living.

“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,” he added.

“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”, said Ashish Agrawal, Principal, Sequoia Capital India Advisors.

Gourav Bhattacharya, Director, Matrix India, commented “We are very excited about the progress the Stanza team has made over the last 12 months, and think they have a unique opportunity to create a large company by organizing the student housing space. Their approach is a win-win for students and parents through better experience, as well as supply owners through better economics. We are delighted to continue supporting Anindya and Sandeep on their journey."

Abhinav Chaturvedi, Principal at Accel added, "We are delighted to continue our partnership with Stanza Living. In a short period of time, Stanza has become the go-to place for student accommodation in Delhi/NCR. The new money will help expand the Stanza brand to other parts of the Indian market."

Stanza Living is challenging the status quo when it comes to student community living through dedicated programmes like ‘Stanza Springboard’, which focuses on providing career enhancement opportunities, and ‘Stanza Social’, centred around year-long community engagement events as well as exclusive discounted access to a curated list of restaurants, brands and experiences.

In July this year, StayAbode, an another co-living spaces startup, had raised 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.

Last November, Stanza Living had raised ₹13 Crore in its first round of institutional funding via Matrix Partners and Accel Partners.

Stanza Living was co-founded by Sandeep Dalmia and Anindya Dutta in 2017. Dalmia is an alumnus of Delhi College of Engineering and IIM Ahmedabad. Prior to Stanza, he was a Principal at Boston Consulting Group. Dutta was previously a Real Estate investor with Oaktree Capital and prior to that, he worked at Goldman Sachs In London. He is an alumnus of IIT Kharagpur and IIM Ahmedabad.

Stanza Living is a tech-enabled co-living concept which is re-imagining student housing in India by transforming it into an experience product, in-line with evolved hospitality sectors like hotels and serviced apartments. From smart-space planning in residences to gamifying delivery of food for operational effectiveness, from exclusive community engagement programmes to delivering reliable and standardized services through technology integration, Stanza Living operates with a full-stack business model that puts students at the heart of its product and service design, development and execution. The company currently operates in Delhi-NCR and plans to expand its presence across multiple student markets in the country in the coming months.

In India, Stanza Living competes with Delhi-based Placio, StayAbode, StudentAcco and also Zolo, which caters to PG segment. Placio had raised $2 million in pre-series-A funding from Prestellar Ventures, a Singapore-based private equity, while Zolo had raised $5 million from Nexus Venture Partners, in January 2017.

[Top Image - (L-R) Sandeep Dalmia and Anindya Dutta, Co-Founders, Stanza Living]

Student Housing Startup 'Stanza Living' Records Fastest Growth in the Industry

With the college admission season just around the corner, Stanza Living, a unique co-living student housing platform has expanded its offering spanning over 2,000 beds across multiple educational hubs such as Delhi University - South Campus, Delhi University - North Campus, Noida, Greater Noida and Dehradun. The company is also looking at increasing its portfolio to over 10,000 beds in the next 12-18 months.

With a ‘student’s first’ approach, the company currently operates in Delhi University’s North Campus and South Campus. Apart from offering high-quality accommodation services to students, the company also offers additional services like career enhancement opportunities as part of their ‘Stanza Springboard’ programme. Additionally, ‘Stanza Social’ is another unique program which the company runs under which it organizes a range of community events throughout the year and provides exclusive, discounted access to a curated list of restaurants, events, coaching classes along with goodies and rewards to Stanza’s community of student residents.

With safety and security being a huge concern for parents, Stanza residences are equipped with advanced, high-tech security systems that provide a safe and secure environment to students. A technology enabled 24-hour central command center, an on-ground rapid response team, perimeter tagging, geo-fencing and motion sensors attached to all residences are some of the unique measures used by the company to prevent unauthorized entry into its resident facilities and ensure a safe and secure environment while offering students the flexibility of enjoying their college.

Commenting on the expansion plans, Sandeep Dalmia, co-founder, Stanza Living said, “Stanza Living is not just another hostel or paying guest accommodation, but a unique community living concept created for students moving to a new place to pursue their dreams. We go beyond accommodation in what we have to offer – we see ourselves as a ‘students first’ brand and hence Stanza Social and Stanza Springboard are uniquely designed keeping the interests of the student in mind. We recently hired 50 interns across 10-12 colleges across India and are providing them with once-in a lifetime opportunity to work in a fast-paced, constantly evolving start-up ecosystem, helping us understand and solve student problems and allowing us to train them for various skill sets such as marketing, content, sales, using digital and social media platforms.”

Anindya Dutta, co-founder, Stanza Living further added saying, “We are re-imagining co-living in India with our student-first approach by providing best of living experiences with our world-class accommodation offerings. In terms of revenue, weclocked https://www.outlookbusiness.com/images/rupee.png2 crore-https://www.outlookbusiness.com/images/rupee.png3 crore in 2017-18 with all units profitable. We’re currently aggressively expanding and have witnessed 20x growth since our inception. Stanza Living, a young start-up has grown exponentially, with the numbers of beds we are managing rising from 100 to 2,000 in the last 12 months. We are excited at this pace of growth which makes us one of the fastest growing start-ups in the Indian eco-system with a strong focus on high quality delivery and execution.

Founded in 2017 by Anindya Dutta and Sandeep Dalmia, Stanza Living raised ₹13 Crore in an institutional funding via Matrix Partners and Accel Partners, in November last year.

Student Housing Startup 'Stanza Living' Records Fastest Growth in the Industry

With the college admission season just around the corner, Stanza Living, a unique co-living student housing platform has expanded its offering spanning over 2,000 beds across multiple educational hubs such as Delhi University - South Campus, Delhi University - North Campus, Noida, Greater Noida and Dehradun. The company is also looking at increasing its portfolio to over 10,000 beds in the next 12-18 months.

With a ‘student’s first’ approach, the company currently operates in Delhi University’s North Campus and South Campus. Apart from offering high-quality accommodation services to students, the company also offers additional services like career enhancement opportunities as part of their ‘Stanza Springboard’ programme. Additionally, ‘Stanza Social’ is another unique program which the company runs under which it organizes a range of community events throughout the year and provides exclusive, discounted access to a curated list of restaurants, events, coaching classes along with goodies and rewards to Stanza’s community of student residents.

With safety and security being a huge concern for parents, Stanza residences are equipped with advanced, high-tech security systems that provide a safe and secure environment to students. A technology enabled 24-hour central command center, an on-ground rapid response team, perimeter tagging, geo-fencing and motion sensors attached to all residences are some of the unique measures used by the company to prevent unauthorized entry into its resident facilities and ensure a safe and secure environment while offering students the flexibility of enjoying their college.

Commenting on the expansion plans, Sandeep Dalmia, co-founder, Stanza Living said, “Stanza Living is not just another hostel or paying guest accommodation, but a unique community living concept created for students moving to a new place to pursue their dreams. We go beyond accommodation in what we have to offer – we see ourselves as a ‘students first’ brand and hence Stanza Social and Stanza Springboard are uniquely designed keeping the interests of the student in mind. We recently hired 50 interns across 10-12 colleges across India and are providing them with once-in a lifetime opportunity to work in a fast-paced, constantly evolving start-up ecosystem, helping us understand and solve student problems and allowing us to train them for various skill sets such as marketing, content, sales, using digital and social media platforms.”

Anindya Dutta, co-founder, Stanza Living further added saying, “We are re-imagining co-living in India with our student-first approach by providing best of living experiences with our world-class accommodation offerings. In terms of revenue, weclocked https://www.outlookbusiness.com/images/rupee.png2 crore-https://www.outlookbusiness.com/images/rupee.png3 crore in 2017-18 with all units profitable. We’re currently aggressively expanding and have witnessed 20x growth since our inception. Stanza Living, a young start-up has grown exponentially, with the numbers of beds we are managing rising from 100 to 2,000 in the last 12 months. We are excited at this pace of growth which makes us one of the fastest growing start-ups in the Indian eco-system with a strong focus on high quality delivery and execution.

Founded in 2017 by Anindya Dutta and Sandeep Dalmia, Stanza Living raised ₹13 Crore in an institutional funding via Matrix Partners and Accel Partners, in November last year.

Student Accommodation Startup Stanza Living Raises Funding from Matrix and Accel Partners

Delhi-based student accommodation platform Stanza Living has raised funds in its first round of institutional funding via Matrix Partners and Accel Partners. According to one report, the amount of fund raised is ₹13 Crore.

The startup will use the funds to expand into new cities, upgrade its technology platform, and for hiring.

Founded in 2017 by Anindya Dutta and Sandeep Dalmia, Stanza Living is a technology-enabled, high-quality student accommodation concept which is seeking to disrupt the multi-billion-dollar student housing market by putting the student, as a consumer, at the heart of the product and service design, development and execution. From smart space planning in rooms to gamifying food, from creating common areas for engagement and community living to delivering reliable, predictable and standardized services to residents through back-end technology integration, Stanza is challenging the status quo when it comes to student community living.

The startup has around 100 students on its platform and plans to have 5,000 in the next two years.The cost per student ranges from Rs7,000 to Rs25,000, depending on the specifications of the accommodation.

"We are currently building another 300 housing spaces focused on students. We do not operate as a PG/rental aggregator, but instead focus on student accommodation services loaded with all facilities like internet connectivity, recreational spaces, housekeeping, and food services,” said Anindya Dutta in a statement to Livemint.

Operating in market that is estimated at $10 billion, the startup currently operates only in Delhi and looking to widen its scope to cities that are educational hubs in the country such as Kota, Pune and Dehradun.