Kastha, 24, who works with a tech firm in Bengaluru wants to head back home to Delhi to spend Diwali with her parents. But, with her professional engagements making such a visit hard and most of her friends having moved out of the city, Aastha is among many workers and students away from home who will be spending the festival of lights away from family.
With scores of such professionals who would prefer to socialise on festivals, two Bengaluru-based co-living startups — Grexter and Colive — have planned events for their tenants, mostly millennials, for the festive season.
Whether Durga Puja Pandals or Diwali nights, these startups say they have everything planned to provide a ‘home away from home’ experience for their tenants. Grexter, a tech-based co-living start-up founded in 2016, is run by two IIT-Madras alumni -- Pratul Gupta, an investment banker, and his batchmate Nikhil Dosoi.
‘The idea is to bring back the socialising concept among millennials who mostly opt for privacy and do not get to be with their parents and friends on important festivals. We have tried to create a community-like experience at Grexter. In the past, we organised Holi and Ganesh Chaturthi at one of our properties to get everyone together. This time, we are planning to have Dandiya nights and Pujas for our tenants at one or some of our properties,” Radha Deodhar, marketing head at Grexter said. Deodhar pointed out that those renting the co-living space also get to host the events of their choice and invite the other tenants for the celebrations. “The tenant can host the event on our app and invite others too,” she said.
Grexter has nearly 2,600 tenants across 16 properties in Bengaluru right now and expects this to grow almost double by the end of the year. It is also planning to expand its footprints across Pune, Hyderabad and Delhi.
Meanwhile, another co-living start-up Colive, also says it has festive season events planned for the young professionals and couples who form a major chunk of its tenants ahead.
“The events are held very often. We celebrated Ganesh Chaturthi and Onam recently and have a line up of events planned for the upcoming festivities. Usually, the event is planned at one of our properties and we invite the tenants from our other accommodations to participate,” said Suresh Rangarajan K, an industry veteran founder of Colive.
“In Bengaluru alone, we have 15,000 beds right now with 85 per cent occupancy. Colive has also expanded its footprints to Hyderabad, Chennai due to a great surge in demand,” Rangarajan added. Young tenants seeking affordable ready to move in homes other than regular PGs and hostels are increasingly shifting to co-living accommodations.
“These spaces are exclusively designed for them with facilities like high-speed internet, daily professional house-keeping, on-demand repairs and maintenance, with flexible payment options designed specifically for young working professionals,” he pointed out.
The co-living segment is projected to grow to $2 billion by 2022, driven by well-funded firms driving both supply and demand, says Redseer.
Co-living boom
The co-living segment is projected to grow to $2 billion by 2022, driven by well-funded firms driving both supply and demand, according to a report by Redseer Consulting.