CHENNAI: Dr Nikhil Sikri wanted to make a difference in people’s lives and the realisation came after a failed attempt at a first start-up in the education sector.
“We decided that this time we will make something that will have a direct impact on people’s lives,” says Nikhil. Thus came Zolo, a platform that provides trusted and comfortable living solutions through ready-to-move-in rented rooms/beds that offer convenient amenities at affordable prices via an integrated app-based technology.
“We recognised the gap in the managed affordable living space and the pain points of people migrating to bigger cities for better opportunities, particularly among the students,” says Nikhil. Zolo is currently active in Hyderabad, Bangalore, Pune, Delhi, Chennai and Kota, all of which have a high density of student population.
Founded in 2015, Zolo was the only one to provide this kind of a service. Of course, over the years they have seen an emergence of competitors but the founders are unfazed by it. “Being the first one in the demographic, it gave us an edge over the ones that came later. We built a trusted brand and a loyal customer base which grew in bounds through referral system. Also the sector itself is so vast that even with multiple players, our customer-base is safe,” asserts Nikhil.
Along with his co-founders Akhil Sikri and Sneha Choudhry, Nikhil founded Zolo with the aim to find comfortable living easily through an app. While the initial stages of the same was a little troublesome as he admits, they quickly turned into a convenience for those migrating to cities.
Nikhil says, “Earlier people were insistent on having a middleman or a physical presence while searching for homes. But the word travelled fast and so did our reputation. Earlier, students wanted to check out PGs on their own, but now they trust it enough to book it on the app instantly.”
Funding was cakewalk for Zolo while the investment was bootstrap. Nikhil says, “We were fortunate enough to get funded just two months after launching Zolo. We received one Mn USD from Nexus in Equity Funding in 2015 itself. In December 2016, Zolo received four Mn USD from Nexus Venture Partners in series A.”
The reason he believes is the credibility of the founders owing to their qualifications. Nikhil Sikri is a doctor by profession who received his MBBS from AIIMS Delhi, Akhil Sikri is an engineer from IIT Delhi with eight years of tech experience while Sneha is a gold medalist from IIM Kozhokode.
Zolo already flaunts a 10k userbase which is only growing. Their revenue comes from the rentals that the
users pay.Nikhil intends to expand in this sector itself for he believes that it is a massive demographic that hasn’t been completely tapped.