Stanza Living to invest ₹150 crore to tap working professionals segment

BENGALURU: Student housing startup Stanza Living on Wednesday said it will venture into managed housing for working professionals with a capacity of 10,000 beds in four cities. It will add an additional 50,000 beds in the new segment and invest ₹150 crore for the expansion.

The managed housing startup will initially focus on adding working professionals in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, and Coimbatore, with plans to expand into three more cities by the next quarter.

With the new proposition, Stanza Living will take on bigger startups in the co-living space such as Nestaway, Zolo Stays, and Oyo which also offers shared housing under the OYO Life brand.

Delhi-based Stanza Living started operations in July 2017 with 100 beds focused on student accommodation in Delhi University’s North campus area, and has since aggressively expanded more than 10 cities. Till date, the startup claims to have added a total of 55,000 beds, including the working professionals segment.

The startup has raised total funding of around $70 million till date from global investors like Falcon Edge Capital, Sequoia Capital, Accel, Matrix Partners, and Alteria Capital. It was last valued at $300 million in its Series C round in July 2019.

According to Stanza Living, the existing shared-living sector in India is fragmented and unorganized and suffers from “service quality gaps like ill-maintained and cramped buildings, poor quality food, lack of access to daily facilities”.

Anindya Dutta, managing director, Stanza Living, in an interview, said the startup conducted extensive market research and interviews with working professionals and freshers to figure out gaps in co-living services.

"From our conversations it was clear that more professionals are choosing to use co-living products over self-owned apartments since access to rented apartments are increasingly becoming difficult for them. Gated communities and welfare associations are increasingly turning their back on working professionals," Dutta said.

He added that the co-living market, especially the segment focused on working professionals is expected to touch $10 billion in India over the next 5 years. "The size of working professionals market is almost as same as the student market, and we will realize the same revenue margins in the new segment that we are already seeing in the student housing market" added Dutta.

Stanza Living will offer features like live cafes and kitchens, chef-curated meals, WiFi, laundry service, housekeeping and round the clock security with the working professionals product.

Each bed or room is expected to be priced in the range of ₹4,000- ₹15,000.

“Our foray into the working professional's category follows the journey of our student consumers. As they graduate and become potential migrant working professionals, we want to continue delivering an aspirational lifestyle solution adaptable to their evolving needs, wherever they migrate. We are excited to launch our holistic value proposition with 10,000 beds addressing the discerning needs of the diverse migrant working population,” said Sandeep Dalmia, co-founder, Stanza Living.