If you had thought that budget accommodation providers like Oyo and Zo were done in India, here’s something that’ll cheer you up. ZoloStays, which operates a managed accommodation platform called Zolo, has today announced that it has secured around Rs. 26 crore in its latest funding round from Nexus Venture Partners.
In this Series A round, the investment amount also includes a debt part of around Rs. 4.5 crore. The debt financing was provided by InnoVen Capital.
As per the documents filed by the company with the Registrar of Companies (RoC), Nexus Venture Partners has been allotted 4,153 Series-A preference shares at a premium of Rs. 48,300 with a second investor, Nestavera Investment Advisory Solutions, pumping in an additional Rs 1.67 crore.
Till date, the startup has raised over Rs. 37 crore across its Seed funding and Pre-Series-A funding rounds. The company’s chief executive Nikhil Sikri has confirmed the closure of the round to ETTech, which took place late last month. He said that the startup will use the proceeds towards expansion and to further augment its technology platform.
Commenting about the usage of the new raised fund, Nikhil Sikri, CEO of the company, said,
We plan to use the capital raised to grow aggressively , to reach over 12,000 beds, up from our current 5,000 beds, and also expand to Chennai and the National Capital Region by the end of this year.
Sameer Brij Verma, director, Nexus Venture Partners, said,
We believe there is a large market gap in the managed affordable living space targeted at students and young professionals moving into larger cities for employment and education opportunities.
He further adds that Zolo’s first principles approach to building a scalable cost-effective execution engine managed by their strong technology platform has allowed them to emerge as a leader in the market in a short duration.
Founded in June 2015 by Nikhil Sikri and his brother Akhil, an IIT-Delhi graduate, ZoloStays operates out of Bengaluru and Pune. It is planning to soon expand its operations to other cities.
The company partners with real estate builders to offer working professionals affordable, fully managed accommodations, ranging from Rs 5,000-17,000 per month, which includes food, utilities and housekeeping.
