Co-living spaces provider StayAbode raises angel funding

Bangalore-based co-living spaces provider, StayAbode, has raised an undisclosed amount of angel funding from a consortium of investors led by Ishan Manaktala and Angie Mahtaney. Gaurav Bhalotia (Ex-VP Engineering, Flipkart), Vishal Lulla (CEO, Vishal Exports). A group of investors from Lets Venture also participated in the round. StayAbode currently offers over 180 beds spread over four properties across Bangalore and has plans to expand to other cities in due course. The startup is co-founded by Viral Chhajer, Varun Bhalla and Devashish Dalmiya who have strong backgrounds in marketing, technology and finance having founded start-ups and previously worked at startups Runnr, Treebo Hotels and Roadhouse Hostels. It is primarily targeted at “single sociable types who can’t be bothered with the hassles of managing an apartment. These are places where utility bills are paid, linen washed and where one cooks only when one feels like. It’s like living in a boutique hotel with a community of like-minded individuals.” According to an official release, StayAbode is leveraging technology, design, service and brand to build co-living spaces for the rental residential real estate market at scale. StayAbode’s co-living spaces mixes small private spaces – containing more than a bed and cupboards with communal areas – kitchens, common rooms, games areas, music and art corners. Viral Chhajer, Co-founder, Stayabode, said, “At StayAbode we’re building the future of residential real estate for the urban millennials. The sharing economy is transforming industries and the way we now look at utilizing resources. Our co-living spaces maximize space utilization that allows members of our community to live in a world class facility at a price they would pay for a sub-standard accommodation facility in the city.” According to the startup, current residential real-estate designs leave some parts of the house extremely under-utilized (kitchens and living rooms). With the increasing value of real-estate, this causes property owners to get a much lower yield on the investment. For property owners, the startup claims to use real-estate efficiently giving them up to 100% higher yield on their properties. “StayAbode has a healthy pipeline of real estate owners who are signing up their properties with them. It helps increase rental yields from the current 3-4% to 10-11% for property owners,” says the official statement. Ishan Manaktala, Venturevida, said, “StayAbode brings a unique concept to the rental market which is very relevant to the Indian urban millennial. We were impressed by the team’s use of technology and analytics to build a sense of community. Community living is disrupting cities across the world and we are excited to back this team and to invest in StayAbode.” Gaurav Bhalotia, angel investor, added, “As more people move to cities for work and study, finding and maintaining quality accommodation continues to be a big challenge. StayAbode is using technology to create living spaces that support the new lifestyle of the young, single-demographic household, enabling a high level of comfort, convenience and community all at ‘tap of the mobile screen’. Happy to partner with Viral and team to bring urban living into the digital age.”