Co-living and home rental startup Zolostays has secured $56 million in a Series C funding round led by InvestCorp. Existing backers of the company including Mirae Assets, Investcorp and Trifecta Capital also participated in it.
With this, the company has managed to secure $90 million across four financing rounds. In January last year, it had raked in $30 million Series B at a $100 million valuation.
Zolostays would utilize the fresh proceeds to carry out its expansion plans, strengthen its technology, inventory, said the company via a statement.
The financing for the Bengaluru-based company came at a time when co-living and co-working startups have been hit massively by the Covid-19 pandemic. Most of the companies in this sector are forced to downscale business while some are on the verge of wrapping up their operations.
Before Zolo Stays, the co-working brand 91springboard is the only startup to raise funds in the overall sector. It raised Rs 45 crore from existing backers.
Founded by Nikhil Sikri, Sneha Choudhry and Akhil Sikri, the five-year-old firm deals in co-living spaces, rental homes, and apartments at budget prices. It claims to have over 45,000 residents under its two offerings- Zolo Standard and Zolo Select. According to the company’s press statement, it has over 450 properties across the top 1o cities.
While the company hasn’t disclosed its valuation, experts tracking the space believe that it’s likely to be a down round. Even with a haircut in valuation, raising funds by Zolo Stays is a good sign for other players in the segment.
Given that strict social distancing norms are followed by the majority of the people due to fear of virus spread, demand for co-living and co-working is bound to go down for the rest of 2020. The severe loss of business also triggered coworking firms to set up an industry body in April to raise their concerns with landlords and the government.
