BackBackpacker hostel company GoStops raises $1 million in bridge round
The round has been funded by the company's existing investors – Mumbai Angels Network, The Chennai Angels, Yuj Ventures, Lead Angels, 1Crowd, Indian Angel Network, Chandigarh Angel Network, in addition to new angel investors including Rohit Chanana of Sarcha Advisors
PremiumNEW DELHI : Backpacker hostel company GoStops has raised an additional $1 million bridge round following its last million-dollar pre-series A round concluded earlier this year in June.
The round has been funded by the company's existing investors – Mumbai Angels Network, The Chennai Angels, Yuj Ventures, Lead Angels, 1Crowd, Indian Angel Network, Chandigarh Angel Network, in addition to new angel investors including Rohit Chanana of Sarcha Advisors.
The current round of funds will be used to acquire new budget hotels and grow its presence across the country. This move is in line, the company said, with the renewed demand for leisure travel.
The company has an approximate cost of ₹500 per night per person.
K Chandran, CEO, The Chennai Angels said the aggressive founders’ mindset to capitalise on the ‘down-time’ during the pandemic to pursue unprecedented growth is the key reason for them to re-invest and lead this round.
Nandini Mansighka, co-founder and CEO of Mumbai Angels Network added that the lack of quality travel accommodation for youth is a big market-need gap and at a price-point of ₹500 per night, they are focused on addressing the belly of this large market.
Pallavi Agarwal the company's founder said the company has grown 2.5x on a quarter-on-quarter basis to an average run rate of $2.5 million. "The funding will allow us to leverage the opportunity presented to us in a post-pandemic India to grow to $5 million by June 2022. We intend to cater to the exponentially growing market of youth travellers in India, who have stepped out to explore the country after a very stress-inducing two years of the pandemic," she said.
Currently, the company operates in 27 locations in India.
The travel services market in India is set to grow by $11.11 billion, progressing at a CAGR of almost 12% during 2021-2025, said a report by market research firm Technavio. Airbnb, Cleartrip, Cox and Kings, Indian Railway Catering, MakeMyTrip etc., are some of the major market participants.
The increase in the number of M&A, partnerships, and strategic alliances will offer growth opportunities. To leverage the current opportunities, market vendors must strengthen their foothold in the fast-growing segments while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments, said the report.
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