Student accommodation provider, The Hive Hostels, on Wednesday announced that it has secured funding to the tune of Rs 11.5 crore or nearly $1.4 million from a clutch of investors in the startup’s maiden external funding round.
The Hive Hostels, which was bootstrapped thus far, secured this capital as a part of its pre-IPO (initial public offering) fundraising round.
Angel investors including Shriram Madhav Nene, Anmol Sood, Sahil Vachani, the managing director of Max Estates, and Anchorage Capital Fund participated in the round. Other investors such as Ritesh Malik and Ankit Mittal and his family office Sixth Sense Ventures Partners also participated.
The company plans to use the funds for the development of Aurus, an extension of The Hive Hostels designed to offer luxury student residences.
"We see a huge demand for high-quality student accommodation and are committed to meeting this need with our innovative solutions. Our upcoming IPO and the launch of Hive Campus Living are key steps in expanding our impact and enhancing the student experience," said Bharat Agarwal, one of the founders of the company.
The company, founded in 2020, is looking to go for a public listing in the second half of next year.
Kyro Capital Private Limited acted as the investment banker for The Hive Hostels during this round.
Founded by Bharat Agarwal and Siddharth Agarwal, the student housing startup had presence in 10 cities in India, including Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Bengaluru, as of March. The company is looking to clock Rs 60 crore in revenue in the current fiscal, it said.
Among other student housing players looking to enter the listed space, University Living, a startup focused on student accommodation abroad, is looking to list on the exchanges by 2030, its founders had said. Another student housing company, Amber, had raised capital to the tune of about $21 million from private equity investors, including Gaja Capital, Lighthouse Canton, among others.
