Elivaas, a tech-driven villa and luxury apartment management company, has secured $2.5 million in a seed round led by Surge, Peak XV Partners’ scale up-programme for early-stage startups.
The round also featured contributions from notable angels such as Naveen Kukreja, Paisabazaar co-founder, Kunal Shah, Cred founder Mohit Gupta, Zomato co-founder, and Amit Lakhotia, Park+ founder.
The recently obtained funds will be utilized to expand market reach in key Indian cities and scale the technology platform, according to the company.
Elivaas, founded by Ritwik Khare and Karan Miglani, operates as a management platform for villas and luxury apartments, aiding homeowners in monetizing, monitoring, and maintaining their vacation properties.
“Travelling preferences among Indians have shifted very drastically towards group travels, family travels and experiential travel. Because of this, the demand for homestays and villas have grown four or five times faster than hotels. The growth rate of hotels in India is growing somewhere between 3% and 6% whereas leisure second homes, which is the sector that we serve, is growing upwards at 25% annually,” Khare said.
The funding is part of Surge’s ninth cohort and marks the first cohort since the establishment of Peak XV Partners following the separation from Sequoia Capital.
Khare mentioned that despite numerous players in the hotel space, there is a significant opportunity in the homestay sector for a brand like theirs to take the lead, as no other brand has provided the conviction for homeowners and travelers to trust them unquestioningly.
The Gurugram-based startup runs an online booking website that enables customers to reserve stays, incorporating an AI-based chatbot. Additionally, the company is in the process of creating an app for housekeeping and operations to elevate its user experience.
Discussing technological advancements, Khare and Miglani emphasized the need for robust operational or backend technology to handle massive scale and create a chain of villas. A significant portion of the current funding will be allocated to tech investments.
Since its establishment in January 2023, Elivaas has enlisted over 50 properties in various locations like Goa, Udaipur, Delhi NCR, and Kufri. The company has consistently maintained an impressive occupancy rate of over 50% in its rental homes.
In the future, the company plans to broaden its presence across India and explore potential opportunities in neighboring countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Thailand, Bali, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines.
Other firms in the ninth Surge cohort, focusing on deep tech manufacturing and AI, include Ethereal Machines, ZeroK, Relevance AI, and Pix.ai, alongside semiconductor startups like InCore and Mindgrove.
