Page 38 - CV April-May 2019 issue

CO-LIVING presents the next MULTI-BILLION

dollar opportunity for start-ups

After a year of important reforms,
the future is looking brigh
particularly when it comes to
affordable housing

o-living presents the next multi- Nestaway, one of the early movers when it Dutta, co-founder, Stanza Living, which has a
billion dollar opportunity for start-ups started in January 2015 with its managed 15,000 bed inventory and is targeting 1 lakh
Cand entrepreneurs as it is slated to home rental network in Bengaluru, is now beds by 2021. Students revel in the
grow from a $12 billion market opportunity present in 13 cities with 30,500 plus houses community living experience which include
today to over $22 billion by 2022, as across India with over 72,400 customers. curated social events, exclusive brand deals
estimated by RedSeer Consulting. Nearly 80 The start-up has raised $94.2 million so far, and tailored learning and skilling
per cent of the demand for co-living spaces as per data sourced from crunchbase.com. opportunities, for their personal and
is driven by the migrant millennial workforce Earlier this month, Colive, that offers professional growth, added Dutta.
followed by students. To cater to this managed rental homes for young working
demand, 42 co-living start-ups have professionals and couples raised $9.2 Even developers are quick to jump onto the
mushroomed around the country over the million, Grexter that caters to working co-living bandwagon. Bijay Agarwal, MD of
last few years which have together mopped millennials and students raised $1.5 million Salarpuria Sattva Group said “We believe co-
up $151.36 million in Venture Capital funding this January and Stanza Living, that caters to living is going to be the next big wave in India
from 2016 to date, as per data sourced from student housing, raised $10 million last that will alter the real estate landscape in Tier
start-up research and analytics platform September. Even OYO launched OYO Life 1 cities, specially IT hubs. We will develop
Tracxn. its fully managed independent housing units built-to-suit real estate which will cater
last October. Zenify, Zolostays, Homigo, exclusively to co-living requirements, which
Co-living spaces are exclusive residential Cozee, SimplyMoveIn, SquarePlums, Ziffy will generate stable rental income over a
spaces that foster community living and are Homes, Abode Hostels, Placio, Your Space, period of time.” Private accommodation with
created by external agents such as Azuro are some of the other co-living start- common shared spaces is the new way of
entrepreneurs or builder/developers. Fully ups in the country. living for youngsters who earlier had no
furnished single/double/triple occupancy ready housing options as builders catered
rooms with a slew of free amenities like Wi-fi, “Student housing is a $15 billion market largely to family spaces. This created a
electricity, water, DTH, housekeeping, driven by over 11 million students who housing gap for the 18-30 age group that we
security, are on offer along with common migrate within the country for higher decided to fill, said Pratul Gupta, co-founder,
areas including fully equipped kitchen and education. Less than 6 million of these Grexter. “Co-living is moving to the
washing areas, gaming zones, lounge and students are able to find quality PropCo/OpCo model (property
movie screening areas, reading areas and accommodation in a largely unorganized company/operating company) where builders
food provided on a subscription basis. Rents market. Professional student housing will develop built-to-suit, co-living spaces and
range from Rs 7,000 per head for double operators like us have barely scratched the operating companies like ours will operate
sharing to Rs 20,000 for single ocupancy. surface in catering to demand” said Anindya and manage them” observed Gupta.

36 / CONSTRUCTION VISION / May June 2019