CoHo is a tech-enabled platform pioneering the concept of Co-Living Spaces in India with its managed apartments and villas for a hassle-free living experience to the millennials. It provides managed rental accommodations for young professionals and students in India (currently in Delhi NCR). BWDisrupt interacted with Uday Lakkar, who founded CoHo on 1st September 2015. He is also the founder of another startup called Zocalo.in (a broker-free listing platform for rental platforms) launched in 2014.
Excerpts:-
How was it started?CoHo was born out of a need and a pain-point, which so fundamental to the youth in India yet unaddressed blatantly. I can recollect several instances like that of my friend from IIMA struggling to find an accommodation in India's largest metro city for more than a couple of months simply because of discrimination based on community background; another instance that I recollect with myself was when I was myself shunned from entering so many residential societies in Gurgaon simply because I wanted to stay with my other bachelor friends from McKinsey...I even remember a notice board saying "Bachelors and Dogs are not allowed here". Also, I feel that the overall quality of youth accommodations (for students and working professionals) in India is in an abysmal state with inconsistent services, poor infrastructure and no technology whatsoever.
There is a crying need for a trusted brand with promise of consistent services at affordable price points in long stay accommodations segment and we at CoHo are pioneering this space.
Tell us something about the unique key feature/services?CoHo provides ready-to-move-in shared accommodations with all services for hassle-free living like housekeeping, WiFi, DTH Cable, repairs & maintenance, etc. Besides these, there are provisions for self-help amenities like Smart Locks, fully-automatic washing machines for laundry, ironing facilities, microwave and induction oven, fridge, tea/coffee machine, etc. The online concierge in the resident app makes sure everyone has a smooth stay at CoHo.
CoHo has these 3C's as its DNA - Comfort (ready-to-use premium accommodations), Convenience (professional services) & Community (social experience) for servicing its residents.
How is it different from existing ones?We create large co-living hubs rather than mere furnished apartments like other players in the industry. We focus on consistency & quality of services with limited/no complaint redressal through our resident app, quality of amenities (typically old furnishings & appliances).
What is your current funding status?Heavily bootstrapped and funded by successful entrepreneurs and esteemed angel investors like Dheeraj Jain (Partner, Redcliffe Capital Hedge Fund), Sachin Bhatia (Co-founder, MakeMyTrip & TrulyMadly), Mahesh Parasuraman (Ex-MD, Carlyle PE), Rajesh Sawhney (Founder, GSF & InnerChef), Umang Kumar (President, CarDekho), Nitin Gupta (Ex-CEO, PayU), etc.
Throw some light on your monetization model?CoHo charges a monthly rent to the residents after leasing properties from the landlords and then converting them into co-living hubs.
What is your current traction or footfalls?CoHo is currently spread across Delhi NCR catering to both young student and working professionals. CoHo's business is profitable at an operating level currently and targeting to cross 5000 beds in 2017.
Share with us what you have in mind for your venture in the near future?CoHo is expanding deeper in Delhi NCR currently and intends to expand to top 8 cities of India over next 12-18 months. The business model is highly scalable with huge depth in demand as well oversupply of real estate in almost top Indian cities. Expansion opportunities are abound with demand coming even from young married couples in urban cities and various corporates/colleges. The co-living model is witnessing enough scalability already in markets like China, US and UK and India is just waiting to explode in this space.
What kind of marketing effort have you been initiating?Believe largely on word of mouth rather than large cash burns and also in engagement activities with colleges & companies.
Tell us about some challenges that you faced while scaling up this business?Major challenges faced are in terms of spreading awareness of the concept and trust building given that this industry suffers from deficit of trust over time and unprofessional approach from the brokers and service-providers alike. The problem is a bit more pronounced in markets like Delhi NCR in particular which are huge in size yet quite an unprofessional market overall, leading to dissonance among young customers. CoHo is trying to exactly address this trust deficit issue by creating a trusted brand that promises and delivers high quality experience to its residents consistently.
What is the market size & opportunity that you plan to capture?Market size is more than $10 Billion across students, young professionals and young married couples.
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Soumya is a young writer and journalist, with bachelors in Multimedia and Mass Communication. She is an alumini of the Asian College of Journalism, and finds politics and sustainability intriguing beats to work with.
