Exciting funding alert- A student housing startup announced a funding of USD 10 million
Another week of the month has started and another news of funding is here. What an exciting thing it is.
Let us talk about funding. Funding is the way to bring in cash in the business. It is the way to expand the operations, the offerings of the business. The money is provided to the startups for a specific purpose. That purpose can be either to build and expand the team, to introduce more products to its list, to expand itself geographically, and whatnot.
There are many investors out there who keep searching for different startups. They look for startups that bring innovation and something new. They are looking for a goal-oriented business that can survive the adversities of the economy.
Let us discuss the funding of a student housing startup that has taken place recently.
Announcement of funding of a student housing startup
The student housing startup, Your-Space has raised funds worth USD 10 million, which will be equivalent to INR 75 crore, as announced on January 17, 2022. This round of funding was the Series A round of funding and was led by the personal investments of Shantanu Rastogi of General Atlantic and AJAX Capital, which is the family office of Ajay Gupta, and Holy Basil Consultancy.
The other participants of this round of funding that has taken place are the family office of the vice chairman at Asian Paints, Manish Choksi, the family office of Sunidhi Group, Sanjaya Gupta, who is the former MD and CEO of PNBHFL, and many others. The funds have been raised in the form of pure equity and convertible debentures.
The startup plans to use the funds raised for the expansion and the growth of the business. The startup also plans to use some portion of the funds in strengthening its presence in a competitive market that is crowded too. Even the startup believes that it has the “firepower” to continue its delivery of global service standards at a particular scale.
About the student housing startup that has announced its funding
The student housing startup, Your-Space, was founded by Nidhi Kamra and Shubha Lal, and they are now the CEO and the COO of the startup respectively. The startup is the country’s premier student housing brand, delivering an award-winning student experience through carefully chosen facilities and services.
According to the startup, when the students move to the top-tier cities for education, only 30% of them make use of the facility of on-campus accommodation. While the remaining 70% of the students look out for other housing options.
The vision of the startup is to create a trusted and recognized brand of quality student living and enriching student experience PAN India. The mission of the startup is to provide parents with a secure and comfortable living for their children. The startup aspires to provide the students with a holistic living experience in a friendly and inclusive community.
The startup is an IIM-Cambridge-Oxford Alumni initiative dedicated to making the lives of young adults living away from their homes for their studies a safe, hassle-free, and memorable hostel experience. The startup was born with a purpose, which was to change students’ world for the better and add value to the way they live, and pursue their higher studies. The foundation of the startup is cemented together with four pillars of commitment to Safety, Comfort, Community, and Health.
The startup currently has more than 7000 operational beds in 9 cities across the country. The target of the startup is to have more than 20000 beds by the month of July for the academic year 2022-2023. The startup has its offerings in Delhi, Noida, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Indore, Jalandhar, Bangalore, Gurgaon, Pune, Dehradun, and Jaipur. The upcoming city is Hyderabad.
About the founders of the startup
The startup, Your-Space was co-founded by Nidhi Kumra, Shubha La, and Karan Kaushish, who are great friends. They identified the gap in the organized student housing sector. They together wanted to create a unique product, the core idea of which was being able to cultivate a student-first environment that promotes overall holistic well-being.
Nidhi Kumra is the CEO of the startup. She is a Mathematics Honors graduate from the famous St. Stephens College, New Delhi, where she was also the Gold Medalist. She then did her Masters’ at Trinity College, Cambridge. She has been awarded the Bill and Melinda Gates Scholarship. She was a trader at Lehman Brothers, Bank of America, and Merril Lynch.
Shubha Lal is the COO of the startup. She is an Economics Honors graduate from Lady Sri Ram College, New Delhi. She is then an MBA from the prestigious IIM Calcutta. She has prior experience in Management Consulting in McKinsey and Company (India), and in Corporate Strategy in Nomura(Europe).
The other key members of the startup are Venayak Gupta, who is the Chief Revenue Officer, Sakshi Rastogi, who is the Head of Community, and Shaunik Sachdev, who is the Chief Marketing Officer.
The student housing market is set to reach more than USD 25 billion every year by the year 2025. The startup is offering such an innovative and interesting service. We wish the startup luck and we hope you have more rounds of funding and a long and successful journey ahead!
Edited and published by Ashlyn
