Co-living startup Zolostays collects Series C cheques from Investcorp, others

By Narinder Kapur

  • 07 Jul 2020
Zolostays CEO Dr. Nikhil Sikri

Co-living startup ZoloStays Property Solutions Pvt. Ltd has raised $56 million (about Rs 419 crore) in a Series C round of funding, multiple media reports said.

Global alternative asset manager Investcorp led the funding round, The Hindu Business Line reported. Other participating investors in this round include venture capital firm Nexus Venture Partners, South Korea’s Mirae Asset and venture debt firm Trifecta Capital. All four are existing investors in Zolostays.

Bengaluru-based Zolostays will use the fresh capital to lock in more inventory and strengthen its technological infrastructure to automate more services.

“Our unique approach allows us to enjoy the highest Net Promoter Score (NPS) – a benchmark indicator of customer satisfaction in the industry,” co-founder Nikhil Sikri said.

Investcorp partner Gaurav Sharma said the investment in Zolostays was in line with the firm’s strategy of capitalising on the trend of urban migration.

The Series C funding round comes a year and a half after the startup raised $30 million (around Rs 208 crore) in a Series B found in January last year from private equity firm IDFC Alternatives, Nexus and Mirae Asset.

Investcorp inherited Zolostays when it acquired IDFC Alternatives’ private equity business in India last year.

The startup had also secured $7 million (around Rs 50 crore) in debt funding from Trifecta in December last year.

VCCircle has reached out to the company on the details of the latest fundraise and will update this report accordingly.

Zolostays was set up in 2015 by Nikhil Sikri and Akhil Sikri. It raised $5 million in Series A funding led by Nexus with participation from venture debt firm Innoven Capital in January 2017. According to VCCEdge, the data research platform of Mosaic Digital, other investors in the startup include Patni Wealth Advisors and Nestavera.

The company says it operates 500 properties across 10 cities and plans to add another 500 to meet future demand. Cities in its coverage include Bengaluru, Chennai, Kota, Delhi, Mumbai and Coimbatore.