The Bengaluru-based company reported a significant rise in revenue from operations, which increased to ₹342.3 crore in FY25 from ₹204.4 crore in FY24, according to financial statements sourced from the Registrar of Companies (RoC). ZoloStays primarily generated its revenue from accommodation and allied services offered to students, working professionals, and corporate clients.

This core segment contributed nearly 80% of the company’s total operating revenue and grew by 73.6% to ₹273 crore in FY25, compared to ₹99.8 crore in the previous fiscal year. Consequently, this growth underscores the rising demand for co-living and managed accommodation solutions in urban India.

In addition, ZoloStays offers property management services to colleges and universities, along with food subscriptions and other related amenities. However, revenue from this segment declined by 30.7% to ₹62.9 crore, reflecting a shift in business dynamics.

Moreover, the company earned ₹3.6 crore as interest income, which brought its total income to ₹346 crore for the financial year ending March 2025.

On the cost front, property management emerged as the largest expense category, accounting for 67% of the overall costs. This expense increased by 83.6% to ₹254.9 crore, driven by expansion and operational scaling. Meanwhile, employee benefit expenses remained stable at ₹82.4 crore, and depreciation costs declined by 28.2% to ₹12.5 crore.

Furthermore, the company incurred higher advertising, promotional, commission, donation subscriptions, and other overhead expenses. As a result, total expenses rose by 43.3% to ₹381.1 crore in FY25 from ₹266 crore in FY24.

Despite robust revenue growth, ZoloStays continued to report operating losses. However, the company improved its core performance as its loss before exceptional items narrowed to ₹35.2 crore in FY25 from ₹56.8 crore in FY24.

Importantly, after accounting for an exceptional gain of ₹100.47 crore from the sale of its student housing business to Good Host Spaces, the company reported a net profit of ₹59.53 crore in the previous fiscal year. This transaction significantly boosted its bottom line.

At the same time, ZoloStays reported an EBITDA loss of ₹14 crore, while its Return on Capital Employed (ROCE) and EBITDA margin improved to -23.23% and -4.12%, respectively, in FY25. On a unit economics basis, the company spent ₹1.11 to generate every rupee of revenue, indicating ongoing efficiency improvements.

As of the end of FY25, the company reported total current assets of ₹137 crore, including cash and bank balances of ₹10.19 crore, thereby maintaining a stable liquidity position.

ZoloStays has raised a total of $118 million in funding to date. According to media reports, Nexus Venture Partners remains the largest external stakeholder with a 34% stake, followed by Investcorp and Mirae Asset.

With steady revenue expansion, reduced losses, and strategic restructuring, ZoloStays is positioning itself for sustainable growth in India’s evolving managed accommodation and rental housing market.

The newly raised capital will fuel Tribe’s expansion across its three luxury sub-brands—Tribe Student Accommodation (hostels), Tribe Commune (co-living), and Tribe Suites (executive apartments). Currently, Tribe operates 650 beds in Pune and now aims to introduce 1,000 more beds this financial year, while also pursuing a long-term roadmap to scale to 25,000 beds across Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities, including Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Gurugram, and Pune.

Commenting on the funding, Yogesh Mehra, Founder & CEO, Tribe Stays, said, “This funding round is a strong validation of Tribe’s vision to redefine how young India experiences living. Our focus has always been to go beyond just accommodation and deliver a premium lifestyle experience through thoughtfully designed spaces, hospitality-driven services, and a vibrant community. With this investment, we are well-positioned to expand aggressively into new markets and strengthen Tribe’s position as the gold standard in student housing, co-living, and executive living.”

Tribe tailors its offerings for long-stay residents of up to a year, thereby serving a diverse customer base that includes students, corporate employees, working professionals, and extended-stay travellers.

Sharing his perspective on the investment, Anirudh Damani, Managing Partner, Artha Venture Fund, said, “We believe Tribe is emerging as one of the most promising players in India’s organized managed-living space. The company addresses a massive, underpenetrated market in premium accommodations for student and professional housing with an asset-light, hospitality-led approach that is both scalable and profitable. The team’s deep sector understanding and execution capability give us strong conviction that Tribe can set new benchmarks for premium living experiences across India.”

With rising demand from universities and enterprises for structured relocation and managed-living solutions, Tribe aims to become the preferred partner for institutions and employers in need of dependable, high-quality accommodation options.

Jai Sumer Singh, co-founder and partner at RiverWalk Holdings, added, “Tribe is well-positioned to address the gap that exists in the premium managed co-living space in India. Scaling sustainably in this category requires deep hospitality DNA coupled with real estate excellence. The Tribe team has built those foundations early and will emerge as a leading operator going ahead.”

HooLiv plans to use the newly raised funds to expand operations in non-metro cities by acquiring new beds, strengthening its brand presence, and upgrading its property management platform. Moreover, the company intends to replicate its business model internationally, aiming to cater to the growing global demand for organized student housing.

Earlier, in February 2020, the New Delhi-based firm had raised an undisclosed amount from Kotle-Patil Developers, laying the foundation for its expansion in India’s fast-evolving student housing sector.

Founded by Chinmoy Mishra, Rasmi Mishra, Gaurav Vij, and Abhishek Verma, HooLiv operates purpose-built student accommodations designed for university and coaching hub students. The platform focuses on offering organized, technology-driven housing that ensures standardized operations, consistent living conditions, and cost efficiency for both property owners and students.

Furthermore, HooLiv integrates real estate management with technology to deliver end-to-end housing solutions, covering maintenance, security, and community engagement. The company collaborates with property owners and educational institutions to convert and manage large-scale facilities as student accommodation assets.

With the number of universities and coaching centers rising rapidly across India, the demand for organized student housing has surged. To address this, HooLiv aims to bridge the demand-supply gap by providing reliable, high-quality, and affordable housing solutions in emerging education hubs.

By leveraging its tech-first approach and scalable business model, HooLiv continues to strengthen its position as a leading player in India’s student co-living ecosystem, while also eyeing opportunities for international growth.

To grow its presence, Truliv is using a cluster-based expansion strategy in Bengaluru. Initially, it plans to offer 1,000 beds as part of this expansion.

In the next 18 months, Truliv aims to add 1,500 more beds. This will increase its total capacity in Bengaluru to 2,500 beds.

“Our growth strategy focuses on a cluster-based model, enabling us to establish thriving communities in key business districts while ensuring operational efficiency and superior service delivery. By leveraging our leadership in BTS (Build-to-Suit) and co-living, we aim to set a benchmark for living experiences and scale our model across the city, driving sustainable growth and innovation in the sector,” said Rohit Reddy, cofounder and chief executive officer of Truliv.

Currently, Truliv manages over 3,000 beds in Chennai. The startup intends to replicate its success in other major cities, such as Pune, Hyderabad, and Gurgaon.

The company anticipates a revenue of Rs 32 crores by the end of this financial year. Notably, it is already EBITDA positive, which distinguishes it within the co-living market.

Truliv’s operating model integrates built-to-suit (BTS) properties with traditional leases, providing flexibility and scalability. Initially targeting working professionals, the company plans to broaden its offerings to serve various customer segments in the future.

Founded in 2019 by Rohit Reddy and Ranjeeth Rathod, Truliv operates as a subsidiary of DRA Homes. The startup focuses on delivering innovative housing and community solutions for working professionals, students, and other demographics across India. With aggressive expansion plans underway, Truliv is set to become one of India’s leading co-living operators.

Union Living is committed to enhancing the co-living experience by offering modern, secure, and personalized accommodations. This venture marks a significant milestone in the co-living industry, providing tailored living spaces for students and young professionals.

Founded by Rishab Soni and Parth Soni in 2020, Union Living is expanding its portfolio by adding these new beds. By June 2024, the company plans to increase its operational co-living beds to 1,500 across nine properties in Mumbai and Pune.

Catering to students and working professionals alike, the company also offers short-term stay options. Rental accommodation starts at Rs 20,000 per bed and can go up to Rs 45,000 per bed.

“We are thrilled to introduce first-of-its-kind build-to-suit co-living accommodation in Mumbai,” said Parth Soni, Co-Founder of Union Living.

“These BTS properties have been meticulously designed in-house by a dedicated team of architects, in collaboration with a panel of students, to ensure that their specific needs and preferences are seamlessly integrated into the design,” added Parth.

Rishabh Soni, Co-Founder of Union Living, said, “Build-to-suit properties offer superior space utilization and custom-designed layouts, enhancing functionality and efficiency. Such properties can accommodate additional amenities and features that enhance the user experience. With long-term lease agreements, build-to-suit projects provide stability and predictability for rental income. Overall, they maximize space utilization, design flexibility, and financial benefits for operators, investors and property owners.”

Union Living’s BTS properties are set to launch in May 2024 in Mahalakshmi, with plans to secure an additional 1,000 beds soon. These developments highlight the company’s dedication to expanding its presence and improving the co-living experience throughout Mumbai.

The demand for co-living spaces and build-to-suit properties continues to rise due to urbanization, increasing student and professional populations, and shifting lifestyle preferences.

Union Living’s innovative approach to co-living accommodation demonstrates its commitment to providing exceptional living experiences tailored to the evolving needs of residents today. By blending quality construction, thoughtful design, and personalized services, Union Living aims to redefine co-living benchmarks in Mumbai and beyond.

The company stated that the funds would be utilized for working capital, team expansion, and technology enhancements. With this funding, Settl has now raised a total of Rs 15 crore from various investors.

Abhishek Tripathi, Co-Founder and Director of Settl said, ” The premium co-living market is in a massive expansion phase and Settl. has seized this opportunity quickly and effectively and is on the best track to becoming the leader of this sector in India. Joining forces with such marquee investors at this crucial step will only help in growth and expansion.”

Established in 2020, Settl is a platform that facilitates co-living arrangements, offering spaces such as PGs and apartments for rent. The startup, which operates in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Gurugram, and Chennai, boasts a network of over 60 co-living centres, providing a total capacity of 4,000 beds, primarily targeting working professionals. The rental options range from Rs 12,500 to Rs 18,000 per bed.

Settl enables users to explore and rent fully furnished shared living spaces, individual rooms, or entire apartments equipped with modern amenities.

“The shift from rural to urban living is transforming cities and Settl. embodies this change. It’s a community-driven space that’s safe, inclusive, and tech-driven. Gruhas is excited about investing in Settl, it also marks our second investment in the first cohort of the Gruhas Aspire accelerator program for prop-tech and cleantech ventures,” said Abhijeet Pai of Gruhas.

Settl estimates that the managed living sector, presently valued at $6.6 billion, has the potential to triple in size and reach $21 billion by 2030.

Akhil has updated his LinkedIn profile, where he now identifies himself as a co-founder of a yet-to-be-announced venture. Zolostays has informed its investors about this development, as stated by the Bengaluru-based company.

Zolostays is a platform for co-living and student housing, offering a variety of accommodation options, such as paying guests (PGs), serviced apartments, and independent flats. The company provides a user-friendly mobile app and employs artificial intelligence (AI) to personalize the experience for its users.

Between 2021 and 2022, the company experienced a slight uptick of less than 1% in its operational revenue, reaching Rs 44.8 crore. Nonetheless, Zolostays was able to reduce its losses by almost 25% in FY22, lowering them to Rs 67.5 crore from Rs 89.9 crore in the previous year, mainly through cost-cutting measures.

“Our revenue has seen notable growth due to several factors. First, our occupancy rates have risen, indicating increased demand for our services. Additionally, we’ve gained greater pricing flexibility as customers are willing to pay for our premium accommodation with excellent facilities. Lastly, our focus on securing prime locations with proximity to various multinational corporations has contributed to the success of our premium properties,” the company added.

Established in 2015, Zolostays has secured a total of $98 million in funding and is currently working on securing Series-D funding. The company achieved profitability in April 2023 and was backed by Nexus Venture Partners and Investcorp. Zolostays has set a revenue target of Rs 500 crore by FY24.

Furthermore, Zolostays has expressed its plans to pursue an initial public offering (IPO) within the next 18 to 24 months.

“Zolostays is currently undergoing a strategic shift towards positioning itself as a premium accommodation provider in order to bolster its revenue,” the company said. It plans to extend its student housing and hotel businesses to Dubai, Indonesia, and Thailand. It is aiming to finalize this expansion by March 2024.

The company will now have three properties in Maharashtra.

It recently entered the co-living segment and raised $1.5 million in private equity and structured debt. 

“We have raised multiple rounds of funding for our operation and are looking to raise about $10 million for further expansion,” said Shantam Mehra, co-founder of the company.

In the upcoming years, Tribe plans to set up hostels and provide more than 20,000 beds for the student community in 20 more Indian towns with educational institutions, including Delhi, Bengaluru, Dehradun, Chennai, and Vellore.

In the pre-seed round, notable Silicon Valley angels, including Sriram Puthucode, former VP at Symantec Global, participated in the fundraising, including a combination of equity and minority debt. 

According to the company, the new funds will be used to expand into new areas, develop new goods, and integrate technology and automation.

Rishi Sreedharan, Co-Founder & CEO of Hyphen, said, “People are drawn towards experience-focused, de-densified living; the pandemic helped accelerate this push. In fact, 76 percent of consumers are more likely to spend on experiences than materialistic things. As people move back into the city, they are looking for something different, and the run-of-the-mill shared-living experience will no longer cut it.”

By 2023, Hyphen hopes to have 6,000 beds and be present in five markets, beginning with Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai, and Delhi-NCR. In August 2021, it opened its first property.

The co-living operator was founded by Anirudh Rao, Grishma Reddy, Rishi Sreedharan, and Samarth Gowda in June last year.

“We believe that the smart food court format will be a norm in the next few years. We are excited to bring this new concept to more cities in the near future and look forward to bring about a revolution in the institutional cafeteria ecosystem. Additionally, through the multi-vendor format, the smart food courts are enabling budding F&B entrepreneurs to scale and set new standards in the institutional cafeteria dining segment,” Krishna Kumar, co-founder of Isthara, commented.

Letsmobility, a software product engineering firm, was also recently acquired by the brand. The company plans to use Letsmobility’s private cloud-based micro app platform, Livet, to introduce advanced tech solutions and expand its capabilities in the institutional cafeteria domain due to this acquisition.

“While we started with housing, we quickly realised that food was also a major concern for this target segment. We started the smart food court segment as a college cafeteria transformation exercise. Seeing our work in the co-living space, we were approached by a large education institution to transform their hostel cafeteria and turn it into an Isthara-standard property. While we were working on this, we realised that a lot of institutions were facing challenges in their cafeterias as they were run by local unorganised vendors, and there were issues in terms of the quality of the service and food,” Kumar commented.

Interestingly, the corporate sector had a comparable requirement. Since then, the company has used the smart food court concept in the workplace. By taking over the institution’s cafeteria space and bringing in the appropriate vendors, technology, and procedure, the company runs in a fixed shared model or a revenue shared model, depending on what suits the institution best. 

Apart from corporations and educational institutions, the company aims to work with hotels, schools, hospitals, and other institutions to scale its cafeteria. “This would help more industries in creating a great revenue yield for their organisation and optimising the food court space efficiently. By delivering the right product at the right time to the right people, we believe in building long term relationships that spread beyond the mere transaction of service offerings,” Kumar added.

“During Covid, we re-structured our business model to make it a sustainable, long term business model. There was also a change in customer habits and safety and hygiene standards became a priority. This opened up new avenues for us as we identified the gaps and challenges that the pandemic presented. As a result, we believe that today, we are stronger and more efficient as compared to the pre-Covid phase. We also used this phase to invest further in our tech to make our product and offerings superior,” he further informed.

Even though the hospitality industry was going through a difficult period, the company could recruit a large number of new employees who were interested in working for startups. During the pandemic, the overall number of employees climbed from 400 to 900. Kumar says Isthara is in a better position to meet the market’s needs now that more workplaces and educational institutions have reopened.