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

UniAcco International Student Accommodation Platform Raises $1 Mn from Adventum Offshore

With a long term aim to disrupt student accommodation space in India UniAcco raises seed funding from Adventum Offshore an investment and wealth management firm. India's newest entry into the startup world UniAcco (uniacco.com) is all set to become a leading global demand platform and the ultimate destination for any student who is actively seeking education in the UK Australia or the USA. With$1million funding the company aspires to be one of the prominent players in student accommodation space in the coming years.

The Founder Amit Singh aims to create a unique market place in the Purpose Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) sector where it still at an early stage and a significant value can be created by a platform. With over 20 years of experience in the financial and real estate industry Amit brings in the right balance of organisational skills PBSA owner relationships and an understanding of best practices. The Co-founder Sayantan Biswas comes with rich experience in co-living spaces and student accommodation in the global market. Sayantan comes with a strong domain understanding of the business especially from the product and demand side. He is an IIT Roorkee drop out and has been part of a few startups in the past. He was also shortlisted for the Peter Thiel Fellowship Summit.

[caption id="attachment_140615" align="aligncenter" width="551"] Team UniAcco[/caption]

Amit and Sayantan started UniAcco a prop-tech company; catering to international students looking for the right advice and best-suited accommodation. UniAcco offers premium personalised student accommodation along with a range of other hassle-free services to ease the journey of students. An overwhelming demand for PBSA across fast-growing educational markets led them with an idea to create a global marketplace for international students. The motto of the company is Compare-Consult-Choose. The initial round of funding is led by the promoters of Adventum Offshore - an investment and wealth management platform which enables UHNW clients to participate in various global opportunities. Considering the student accommodation opportunity internationally the idea appealed to them strongly.

On UniAcco platform students can compare consult and choose their accommodation from several established property providers. It is a one-stop solution for hassle-free resettlement of the student in an unfamiliar environment. Some of the USPs of UniAcco are free visa consultation availing loans from premier institutions in India setting up a student bank account with top banks in the UK cost-effective guarantor service airport pick-up service for a smooth check-in and a pre-activated overseas SIM. On each step technology is the driving force behind the smooth operation of UniAcco.

It is not only limited to curated accommodation recommendations but also comes with an integrated payment gateway for seamless bookings with a status update AI chat-bot for customized support and automation for end-user retargeting to secure successful conversions. The team at UniAcco comprises young professionals and experienced individuals who are experts in their respective domains. UniAcoo thrives on implementing international practices in Indian markets. Soon they aim to enter and develop the PBSA market in India by implementing the best global practices.

Founder Amit Singh says Our goal is to be with the student at every step of selecting an accommodation by empowering them with contrivances like the ability to compare and choose an apt accommodation using our consultative platform with the intent of making the transition as smooth as it can be.

Emron Samuel Director - Adventum Offshore Pvt. Ltd. says Coming from an international platform we understand the space well the scale of opportunity available in the student accommodation market for international students is huge and prop-tech is the way to capture it/solve it. We are very excited to be part of this journey and looking forward to add in whatever way we can to the team with our international experience.

~ Newsvoir

Softbank to Invest in Punjab through OYO for Student Housing

Japan's Softbank Group on Tuesday evinced interest to invest in Punjab's real estate sector, with focus on student housing through OYO, an Indian hotel start-up backed by the SoftBank Group.

A high-level delegation of the group, led by its MD Hiroki Kimoto, called on Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh here, who extended his government's full support in the realisation of Softbank's investment plans in the state.

Amarinder assured the delegation of seamless and smooth investment in the state through its single-window clearance platform, Invest Punjab, in the fast-track mode.

The new Industrial Policy, coupled with lucrative incentives and facilities, was facilitating investors in a big way, with over Rs 50,000 crore investment already realised on the ground during the past two years, the chief minister told the delegation members, according to an official statement here.

Earlier, briefing the delegation on the various investible projects, Additional Chief Secretary, Investment Promotion and Industries & Commerce Vini Mahajan said that Punjab had a vibrant real estate sector, with areas around Chandigarh seeing excellent growth.

Reputed international players are looking at affordable housing, student and senior citizen housing facility as a potential investment sector, she added.

Taking part in the deliberations, Lovely Professional University Vice Chancellor Ashok Mittal said they were in advanced talks with Softbank for a potential collaboration for the construction of student hostels, as there was a huge demand for hostel facility for the domestic as well as international students.

Softbank is one of the biggest investors in the Indian startup ecosystem, with approximately 20 per cent of its investments in India-based businesses, the statement said. PTI SUN

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.

Co-Living Brand Zolo forays into the Student Accommodation Space

Zolo, the co-living brand in India, introduces Zolo Scholar, which marks its foray into the student accommodation segment. Zolo Scholar is a new category of properties specifically designed for students with added features like extra security, common study areas and better services and amenities.

The development comes within a month after Zolo had raised $30 million in a Series B funding round led by Nexus Venture Partners and IDFC Alternatives, along with participation from Mirae Asset, a South Korea-based independent financial services group.

Zolo
already has a two-pronged model, Zolo Standard and Zolo Select to cater
to different needs of the working class. With this addition, the
company plans to capture the student sector. Currently, the Scholar
model is set across 2 cities viz. Kota and Bangalore. Zolo has 3
properties with a capacity of 400 beds, and 7 properties with a capacity
of 522 beds in Bangalore and Kota respectively.

Nikhil Sikri, Co-Founder & CEO of Zolo, commented, “We
believe student housing is a largely untapped market. Students
constitute a big chunk of our customer base and we see a lot of growth
potential in that segment. With the addition of this category, we aim to
provide affordable solutions to the housing problems of all the
sections of the society.”

Founded in 2015 with the aim to redefine the living experience in India, Zolo offers fully managed and affordable, ready to move in rooms/apartments, which offer clean spaces, homely food and caring staff. It’s a full stack brand and a platform which takes accountability of the entire customer experience. Zolo’s tech platform provides the customer, a button to manage “Life” on the phone.

Earlier this month, the company announced its entry into the Mumbai market. With a strong presence in 9 cities Bangalore, Chennai, Pune, Gurgaon, Kota, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Noida and Coimbatore, the company manages 175 properties with over 17K beds across the country.

In student accommodation space, Sequoia India-backed Stanza Living is perhaps the most funded startup, which has managed to raise funds from high-profile investors including Matrix India, Accel Partners and

Last month, Stanza Living launched Stanza Estate app, 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.

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 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.