Student housing company Stanza Living said on Monday it has raised funding in a Series C round led by the US-based hedge fund Falcon Edge Capital.
Existing investors Sequoia Capital, Matrix Partners and Accel also took part in the round, Stanza Living said in a statement.
This is the first tranche of the ongoing round, the startup said. It didn’t disclose the funding amount, but said it has committed to invest Rs 250 crore to strengthen its pan-India presence.
Stanza Living co-founder and managing director Anindya Dutta said the investment would help the company build its capabilities and strengthen its footprint in the student housing segment.
The company, Dutta said, is considering both organic and inorganic growth measures, including the potential acquisition of competitors. “We will be deploying a significant part of the raised capital towards these efforts,” he added.
Falcon Edge another co-founder Navroz D Udwadia said the firm was confident in its investment in Stanza because of the startup’s supply aggregation and value-added services.
Owned and operated by Dtwelve Spaces Pvt. Ltd, the startup was founded in February 2017 by Anindya Dutta and Sandeep Dalmia. An IIM Ahmedabad graduate, Dalmia has previously worked at the Boston Consulting Group while Dutta was with global alternative investment management firm Oaktree Capital.
Stanza says its technology-enabled student housing concept provides services such as fully furnished accommodation. It also has partnerships with restaurants, fitness centres and other such institutions, through which it provides its residents rewards. Besides, the startup offers students the opportunity to connect with alumni, internship opportunities and guidance on online study materials.
The company claims it has an inventory of 22,000 beds across nine cities. In March, the firm said it raised $4.4 million (around Rs 30 crore) in venture debt from Alteria Capital to expand its business operations and explore other financing structures.
In September 2018, it raised Rs 73 crore (around $10 million) in a round led by Sequoia India. Matrix Partners India and Accel also participated in the round.
Falcon Edge
Falcon Edge was established in 2012 by Richard Gerson, along with Udwadia and Ryan Khoury. It manages more than $2 billion in assets globally.
In January, VCCircle reported that the hedge fund was raising money for India-focussed investment vehicle.
In June, the firm participated in the Rs 505 crore (around $72 million) Series C funding round of dockless scooter-sharing platform Bounce. Accel and Sequoia led that round, with the two investing Rs 138 crore and Rs 113.5 crore each.
It has also invested in companies such as ride-hailing unicorn Ola, classifieds portal Quikr, digital lender OfBusiness, non-banking financial company JM Financial Credit Solutions and real estate portal Housing.com.
