Co-living startup Stanza Living secures more venture debt from Alteria

By Narinder Kapur

  • 10 Dec 2019
Credit: 123RF.com

Dtwelve Spaces Pvt. Ltd, which operates student-focussed co-living startup Stanza Living, has raised $5.7 million (Rs 40.43 crore at current exchange rates) in venture debt from Alteria Capital.

The New Delhi-based startup said in a statement the infusion takes the total debt capital it has raised from Alteria to around $10 million; it had mobilised $4.3 million from the Mumbai-based venture debt firm earlier this year. Overall, it has raised over $70 million, including as equity capital.

Other investors in the co-living startup include Matrix Partners India, Accel India, Sequoia Capital India and Falcon Edge India, according to VCCEdge, the data research platform of Mosaic Digital.

Company co-founder and managing director Anindya Dutta said it will use the capital to increase the pace of its growth across the country through organic and inorganic measures.

Alteria managing partner Ajay Hattangadi said the firm was confident of recommitting to Stanza Living because of the startup’s business model and fundamentals.

Stanza was co-founded by Dutta and Sandeep Dalmia in 2017. It has an inventory of more than 47,000 beds across the National Capital Region, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Pune, Chennai and Coimbatore.

The company offers managed and shared fully furnished accommodation for students, especially those relocating to a new city. Its managed properties also offer common spaces for recreation and networking, besides food.

In September last year, Stanza raised Rs 73 crore in a fresh round led by Sequoia. Matrix Partners and Accel also participated in that round. Prior to that, the co-living startup raised Rs 13 crore from Matrix and Accel in November 2017.

Deals in the co-living segment

The co-living asset class has gained traction in India in recent years. Several startups have ventured into the segment, attracting investments from both domestic and global institutions. Several real estate investors have also set up co-living and co-working firms or backed such startups.

Last month, GoStops, a hostel chain focused on young travellers, raised an undisclosed sum from angel investors including Nitish Mittersain, founder and managing director of mobile games company Nazara Technologies Ltd.

In August, the Embassy Group said it had forayed into co-living through EPDPL Co-Living Pvt. Ltd, which would target students from colleges and professionals working with multinational companies in Grade A business parks across Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad, Delhi-NCR, Mumbai and Chennai.