Vista Rooms raises funds from Google India head and Freshworks’ CEO

Mumbai based Vista Rooms has raised $776,000 (Approx Rs 5 crore) from Google’s Rajan Anandan and Freshworks’ CEO Girish Mathrubootham. The deal also includes a clutch of investors like Artha India Ventures and online funding platform LetsVenture.

The funding by Rajan Anandan and Girish Mathrubootham is reported to be in their individual capacity. As per report by VCCirlce, the Vistaroom hasn’t confirmed the development yet.

Founded in 2015 by former head of acquisitions at OYO Rooms Ankita Sheth, Amit Damani and Pranav Maheshwari, Vista Rooms aggregates hotel inventory across affordable, budget and luxury categories. Operated as Stay Vista Pvt. Ltd, this budget hotel aggregator claimed to be India’s first accommodation aggregator app on Instagram.

The startup, which currently has more than 1,000 hotels listed on its platform, has a presence in 100 plus locations in India and also a prominent foot print across tourism hotbeds like Sri Lanka and Maldives. Vista Rooms claims to offer standardised services like complimentary breakfast, free Wi-Fi and clean bed linen. Properties on its platform are audited and checked on more than 20 quality parameters, it claims. Users can book rooms through the company’s website, over phone as well as through select online travel agents.

The investment was made in two phase in November last year. Vista Rooms issued compulsorily convertible preference shares at a subscription price of Rs 1,667.65 for the fund-raising exercise

Vista Rooms operates and competes with the online accommodation aggregators like Oyo rooms, Stayzilla, Wudstay and others.

The space has witnessed a lot of development, both positive and negative, in recent months. Last month, Delhi-based NightStay, a marketplace for last-minute hotel bookings, raised an undisclosed amount in pre-Series A led by Indian Angel Network and LetsVenture.

In the same month, the sector witnessed a not-so-positive development when Mumbai-based Instant Hotels Around You, an online platform that allowed room bookings at the last minute, announced its shutdown.

In February, Stayzilla, which had raised close to $30 million from investors such as Nexus Venture Partners and Matrix Partners also ceased operations.