Getting admission into the desired university is literally the best dream-come-true instance. But, the process of moving into a new place is rather painful and finding an accommodation that matches your prerequisites makes this even harder. This is where Malaysia-based HostelHunting.com comes to your rescue by providing the best student living experience.
Today it announced that it has raised Series A funding to bolster its presence in its home market and expand across Southeast Asia. The company says it will invest in “growth, people, infrastructure, and technology.” Accord Ventures, Hoop Partners, Japanese IT company Startia, and KK Fund participated in the round.
Founded in late 2014, HostelHunting.com has a very sorted approach — it integrates the whole long process of searching, contacting owners, viewing, booking rooms into one hassle-free platform. Basically, it does all the hard work for you by merging all the processes onto one single platform.
It had expanded to Thailand at the end of 2016 and Singapore early this year. Wen Khai, CEO of HostelHunting.com, in a statement, says they have worked hard to provide accommodation near almost every educational hub in the three nations. He adds,
One of our biggest milestones this year has been Singapore. It is very different from the rest of Southeast Asia. It is a relatively small country with a huge international student population. Accommodation services are professionally run so the expectations on us are just higher than ever. We work closely with all our stakeholders to ensure we meet all their requirements.
The firm is on its way to creating a very strong community of students, landlords & educational institutions. Khai says one of the key challenges that they come across is understanding the needs of students in different areas. He says they are now able to identify them and offer the ideal place accordingly. And, this, the ability to adapt to distinct market has become a key driver for their regional growth. Wen added,
We are excited about the potential of these new strategic partnerships. It will help us develop new functionality, strengthen our core & accelerate our journey to providing the best student living experience across Southeast Asia.
Prior to this, Hostelhunting.com had raised $500K seed funding received in December 2015 from KK Fund, Incubate Fund and Cradle Fund. That round contributed significantly to their expansion, growth in the student property rental market and augmenting their team. Khai signed off saying,
We are really investing in people, new features & technology. The second half of the year will be a major game changer for us.
