Zolostays, a Bengaluru-based co-living and home rental startup, is reportedly, in advanced talks with new investors to secure up to $100 million (approx ₹719 crore) for its series C round, reported Livemint. The investment, if taken place, will be through a mix of equity and debt options.
“We are looking to close a $100 million round, which will be used to fund the expansion of our workforce team as we have launched in new cities this year, and to help increase inventory size and upscale furnishing options across our current inventory as well,” said Nikhil Sikri, chief executive of Zolostays.
Zolo Stays, owned and operated by ZoloStays Property Solutions, was founded by Nikhil Sikri along with Akhil Sikri in 2015.
The startup offers quality co-living spaces to students and young professional through its technology platform. The rooms offered have various facilities like security, internet services, furnished rooms, hygienic, and healthy food, among others.
According to Sikri, since its inception in 2015, the platform has added around 30,000 beds, and another 60,000 contracted beds that will be added to the platform in the coming months.
The four-year-old startup is looking to make housing affordable for students, working professionals, and freshers who move away from their hometown in search of jobs.
“We have two formats of housing options on our platform; one is the Zolo Select option which offers high-end luxury apartments on shared rentals as well as Zolo standard which is basically 4-5-floor tower, along with a community lounge. Around 30% of our new closures come in through referrals from current property owners, rest 70% is outbound closures,” Sikri further added.
Sikri continued and said that Zolostays is also looking to launch fully-managed houses targeted at families and individual groups in the next three to four quarters.
Currently, the services are available in 10 cities, including Bengaluru, Chennai, Kota, Gurugram, Hyderabad, Pune, Mumbai, Noida, Delhi NCR, and Coimbatore.
Other startups competing with Zolostays, in the co-living and home rental domain include NestAway, ZiffyHomes, Stanza Living, and NoBroker, among others.