Zolostays Property Solutions (Zolo) is in early stage talks with growth investors to raise up to $100 million for its Series D round through a mix of equity and debt options. Zolo had last raised $56 million in a Series C round led by Investcorp, Nexus Ventures Partners, Mirae Assets, and existing investor Trifecta Capital as well. Other investors in the company include Alec Oxenford, founder of OLX, Chennai-based Olympia Developers and Patni Computers Family Office. To date, Zolo has raised around $90 million in financing. Zolo began expanding into space in 2015 and today it has around 50,000 beds across 300 properties in 13 cities. Sikri told FE that the start-up is now targeting to hit 100,000 beds by end of 2022.
The co-living segment has witnessed a healthy resurgence in demand especially as several IT companies and tech startups have begun moving employees to office spaces, putting an end to the work from home trend. Sikri said that after the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, the occupancy rate at Zolo’s properties recovered by around 68%. For FY21, Zolo closed its financial year with a revenue of Rs 54 crore. Apart from just a fully managed room, Zolostays also provides amenities like WiFi, housekeeping, repairs & maintenance, food service, and DTH connections at its properties which is included in the monthly rent. However, despite acquiring customers in their early career cycle, the average lifetime value (LTV) of a Zolo customer is only around 3-3.5 years. To improve this number, Zolo is considering expanding into family housing options soon.