Real Estate Veterans Raise Funds For Coliving Startup Housr

• Abhishek Lodha and Pirojsha Godrej participated in the round
• Housr has locked in 10K beds
• It offers coliving facilities to student and professionals

Gurugram-based coliving startup Housr has emerged from stealth mode and announced that it has raised an undisclosed funding from marquee real estate players.

This includes Abhishek Lodha, MD and CEO, Lodha Group; Pirojsha Godrej, executive chairman, Godrej Group; and Harsh Patodia, president Elect of CREDAI and chairman, Unimark Group. The startup claims to have a $30 Mn pre-money valuation.

After building its operations quietly for the last six months, Housr said it aims to expand its India footprint with over 50K locked-in beds with entry in markets such as Chandigarh, Pune, Bengaluru and Hyderabad within the next 18 months.

Housr: 10K Beds For Professionals And Students

Talking to Inc42, founders Deepak Anand and Kalpesh Mehta shared that the vision for Housr is to transform the way millennials live through high quality coliving spaces which make their lives easier, more convenient, fulfilling and memorable.

The main focus for the startup remains young professionals and students, The company said its goal is to become the largest coliving player in the next 18 months, with plans to launch over 20 properties across 8-10 key cities, with each property housing more than 500 residents.

Deepak Anand, founder and CEO, Housr said, “Housr sits at the cusp of three emerging trends – shared economy, technology and cultural urban migration. India is the fastest-growing economy with over 440 Mn millennials, the highest anywhere in the world. Housr’s strongest differentiator is its mega communities model.”

Community Building With Housr

Housr has tied up with players such as BigBasket, Rapido etc to enable their services within the community. The integration has been enabled on Housr app as well as the community. Anand shared that on an average, a Housr property costs INR 20K-INR 30K for studio (non-sharing) and INR 10K – INR 15K studio (twin sharing). This rent would include maintenance services, housekeeping, laundry facilities, games room among other facilities.

Going forward, the startup expects each property to house over 500 residents

Abhishek Lodha said, “Housr has all the ingredients required to disrupt this space through a super aggregated, and community first approach. As a developer and an investor, I look forward to supporting Housr to transform the co-living industry in India.”

Coliving Market In India

As the Indian millennials comprise about a third of the country’s current population, the idea of coliving spaces are potentially staring at a huge business opportunity.

A February report by PropTiger said that coliving segment has the potential to grow into a $93 Bn market in India. “The coliving sector has total untapped demand of approximately 46.3 Mn beds, out of which 8.9 Mn is from student housing,” it added.

Here are some of the updates from the players in the segment:

• Bengaluru-based co-living startup Colive raised $9.2 Mn (INR 63 Cr) in its Series A funding round led by the real estate company Salarpuria Sattva Group.
• StayAbode received an undisclosed amount as an add-on to pre Series A funding  from Voyage Group, Akatsuki and Incubate Fund.
• Bengaluru-based Grexter raised $1.5 Mn (INR 10.6 Cr) in a Pre-Series A funding round from Venture Catalysts.
• New Delhi-based student housing startup Stanza Living raised $4.4 Mn in venture debt from Alteria Capital.
• Singapore-headquartered student housing platform Oxfordcaps raised $8 Mn funding led by Times Internet with participation from existing investors Kalaari Capital and Silicon Valley-based 500 Startups.
• OYO Hotels launched its ‘OYO Living’ long-term living offering that seeks to expand in the top 10 metros by the end of 2019 with 50,000 beds. Its monthly rental plan starts from $109 (INR 7,999) per bed.

By 2022, India’s coliving industry is expected to be 20 times bigger than it is today with the shared-living market valued at $120 Mn (INR 845 crore) in 2018, as per data from research and advisory firm RedSeer Consulting.

In the next four years, the Indian coliving market is expected to surpass $2.2 Bn in value.

Read more here.

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