It is very common for companies to face the ire of its unhappy customers, with even biggest of brands and companies have to suffer from this ignominious fate. However, the situation can become little distressing for companies if the number of complaining customers keep growing in leaps and bounce. This apparently is what exactly happening with Nestaway, which offer homes and flats on a rental basis through its online platform.

Just type Nestaway on the Twitter search bar and you’ll come across a barrage of complaints against the online rental startup. While nowadays it is pretty common for customers to vent their frustrations on social media platforms, Nestaway’s tryst with unhappy customers seems to be on a mass scale.

Nestaway’s customers are basically complaining about two things; one is the non-payment of security deposit and other is leveling of hidden charges. According to unconfirmed reports, many of the angry customers have also dragged the Bengaluru based company to the consumer court. Furthermore, agitated customers have started online petition to secure public support against the company’s alleged malpractices.  At the time of filing this story, 204 people have signed this online petition on Change.org.

One customer named Ayush Singhal said that he has vacated Nestaway property almost 2 months back but has failed to receive security deposit. Another tenant named Nausheen threatened to take legal action against the company, claiming that Nestaway was charging the rent even though she has paid the rent.

Here are some screenshots of complaints that Nestaway customers have posted on their Twitter accounts…      

Nestaway’s response to the online backlash  

Nestaway has resolutely defended the allegations, arguing that most of the allegations leveled by the customers are completely unfound and unjustified. The Bengaluru headquartered company has put forward three main points in its defense.

• There has been a dramatic rise in ‘move out cases’ in recent months due to Covid-19 crisis. It has resolved over 3000 move out cases where security deposit was pending.

• Customers complaining about hidden charges are actually crying foul over the payment leveled against them for property damage. The company claimed that the third party companies did inspection of the property damage.

• Refund of 95% tenants, who have moved out before June, has been processed.

• Security deposit of tenants living in the containment zone is still pending since inspection of property cannot be carried due to restriction of movements.

It is pretty clear that Covid-19 crises has not only clipped the wings but also brought the businesses of co-living startups to a grinding halt. If reports are to be believed then co-living startups like Nestaway and Zolostays have witnessed drastic drop in their occupancy rate during last 2-3 months, since most students and young working professionals have fled to their native places due to the lockdown period.

Before the lockdown, the co-living industry was expecting the demands from students and working professionals to grow at 5-7% but this has now completely slowed down.

One industry expert has claimed that the pandemic crisis might push the co-living industry to consolidation phase, with big companies buying out small & relatively unfounded startups

Another industry expert claimed that Nestaway and Zolostays should be able to endure the ongoing storm, since they are very well funded startups. However, their ability to overcome the crises will also largely depend on health of their balance sheet, the expert added.

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Zolo stays said that it is hopeful that new appointee will help in aggressively expanding the student housing space this year.

Kukreja will mainly focus on B2B growth opportunities for the company. He will simultaneously focus on all the important aspects of student housing including community activities, strategic growth planning, business development, operations and residence programming.

Kukreja brings with him 15 years of exhaustive experience in sales, marketing, business development, operations and real estate. He has worked in renowned companies like Elara Group, LODHA Group and Bajaj Allianz.

The company claims that the recent Budget allocation of Rs. 99,300 crores for the education sector will give massive boost to the co-living businesses, especially students will be at the forefront of this massive growth.

Commenting on the appointment, Nikhil Sikri, CEO & Co-Founder, Zolostays, said, “We are delighted to have Kukreja on board and I am confident that this is right time to aggressively branch out as student housing is the new demand driver in the realty front. The education sector is booming in the real estate market and we will maintain our pace and position as the category leader under student housing across all our properties as well.”

Last month, Zolo Stays had appointed Mr. Chanchal Gupta as its new Chief Human Resources Officer.

Established in 2015, Zolo Stays is India’s largest co-living platform which provides a seamless tech enabled living experience for young professionals and students in a state-of-the art co-living rooms.

It currently offers co-living services in Mumbai, Delhi, Noida, Pune, Chennai and Hyderabad.

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Mehra brings with him 19 years of experience in financial management, planning and finance transformation. Commenting on his new role, Mehra said, “I am delighted to be working with a strong and committed team with focused objectives and set goals. I look forward to a successful and fulfilling journey with Zolo. My role will largely focus on financial management and strengthening the position of Zolo in every market and I am looking forward to that.” Mehra will be based out of Bengaluru.

Commenting on the new appointment, Nikhil Sikri, CEO & Co-Founder, Zolostays, said, “We are very excited to have Sidhartha Mehra join Zolo. He will work closely with me and will be an important member of Zolo’s leadership team as we continue to expand our presence to more cities nationally as well as globally. We are confident that his leadership, financial and accounting experience will benefit Zolo and its employees as well as our shareholders. I look forward to a wonderful journey ahead and developing a close and productive working relationship with Mehra”.

Zolostays currently operates 350+ properties across 10 cities viz. Bangalore, Chennai, Kota, Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Coimbatore, Pune, Gurugram, Noida and Hyderabad via two kinds of models – Zolo Standard and Zolo Select. Zolostays has 45,000 live beds and locked-in 2,00,000 beds for the near future. Its target customers are students and early professionals.

About Zolo:

Founded in 2015, Zolo is making strong headway into managed living, offering their customers liberty to customize their stay at any Zolo property. Zolo’s offerings are fun, flexible and functional which ensure a comfortable stay and plenty of activities for its residents to form stronger bonds as a community. Zolo has also conducted over 80+ activities in the past one month such as World Cup screenings, movie nights, yoga sessions, Zumba classes, karaoke sessions, comedy nights, poetry nights, food fests and Bollywood nights across their properties. These shared community experiences are what makes co-living fun and engaging for millennials.

The post Co-living Startup Zolostays Appoints Sidhartha Mehra as Chief Financial Officer appeared first on Platform to Showcase Innovative Startups and Tech News.

The Bengaluru based company has already set new benchmarks in improving the ‘accommodation quality’ in the co-living market. But it is not done yet with redefining the living experience for India’s nomadic millennials, who are conspicuously desperate to seek freedom from the substandard PG accommodations.

Zolostays’ co-founder Nikhil Sikri along with his two other co-founding partners as well as the entire team is always on a work mode to resolve the prevailing pain-points in the co-living market. Today the company already operates nearly 20,000 beds in almost 12 cities and plans to expand to 50,000 beds in near future.

The company’s expansion plan has already got a massive boost after it recently raised $30 Mn in a series B funding round. Not to mention it is already in talks to raise whopping $100 Mn from investors. If this funding round does fructify then it will be one of the biggest funding rounds in India’s co-living industry.

Techpluto caught up with Zolostays’ co-founder and CEO Nikhil Sikri in an exclusive interview. Sikri has shed light on the funding prospects, future plans, challenges facing India’s co-living industry and many other aspects.

Q: Zolo Stays raised $30 Mn in January in a Series B round. How is the company going about utilizing this latest capital infusion?

A: Since the last round of funding, we’ve added thousands of beds to our existing properties and expanded to other cities, especially in the NCR region. Most of the funding is going towards the growth of the Zolo community.

Q: Can you please shed light on some of the facilities and amenities that residents get to enjoy at Zolo Stays’ co-living spaces?

A: Zolo is creating a community-centred environment for our residents that not only provides privacy in living arrangements but also promotes social contact. The curated community fosters inclusivity that enables tenants to meet a variety of other individuals and expand their network. Zoloites can also avail flexible and shorter lease terms, reduced security deposit and zero hassles with housekeeping, payment of utility bills, maintenance, furniture and fixtures, and renewal of lease contracts.

Zolo Stays has a three-tiered product offering – Zolo Standard, Zolo Select and Zolo Scholar. Zolo Standard is affordably priced sharing accommodation in standalone buildings for students and working professionals at entry and mid-level located near corporate hubs and residential clusters. Zolo Select is a customised offering designed for working professionals at higher income brackets. These are mostly premium single occupancy accommodations with amenities such as swimming pool, club house and entertainment zones located inside premium and luxury residential townships. Zolo Scholar provides off campus accommodation for students with facilities and services designed specifically for their needs, supporting minimal lifestyles at an affordable budget.

Q: To develop affordable co-living spaces, Zolo Stays has forged a partnership with several real estate developers including big names like Godrej Properties & Shapoorji Pallonji Real Estate. Can you please walk us how difficult or easy it was to bring these real estate developers on board?  

A: It has been a difficult journey onboarding these esteemed real estate developers. We were new players, so we had some convincing to do. Plus, these giants are more relationship-driven, it took more than one meeting to get them on board. We had references from our earlier projects where we’d delivered on our promises before time. That helped us close our deals with the afore mentioned developers.

Q: Reports are already rife in the media that Zolo Stays is soon planning to raise $100 Million in series C round. Your comment about the same?

A: Yes, we are looking to raise $100 Million in Series C round, we can’t reveal more details as of now, but the funding will go towards strategic expansion to other cities. Zolo Stays plans to expand its capacity to nearly 200,000 beds by FY 2021. It plans to foray into new markets such as Chandigarh (Tri-City), Nagpur, Kolkata, Indore, Ahmedabad with new product segments such as investment sales, couple’s accommodation and geriatric living through new avenues such as manchise model.

It also plans to make the Zolo community more irresistible through alliances, events and value-added services. Rolling out new community focused product features and applying AI/ML and IoT to specific use cases for improving customer experience is also on the cards.

Q: Where does the company currently stands in terms of profitability and revenue? Can you please share some stats with regards to the same?

A: We will be achieving a GMV annual run rate of 50+ million $ by calendar year end 2019, growing at 430% CAGR

Q: Today Zolo Stays is already India’s largest co-living brand. But where do you see this company in the next 2-3 years from?

A: With major players coming into the scenario, we are inspired even more to stay at the top. We plan to expand to more cities every quarter and focus on the experience of our customers rather than just expanding and increasing the quantity over quality.

Q: How intense is the competition in the co-living market especially following the entry of deep-pocket players like Oyo Rooms?

A: The competition has always been tough; we weren’t the first one here and we sure aren’t going to be the last. Others can only dilute the market share, but we are more focused on our goals and working toward them.

Q: What is the size of India’s co-living market and how do you see the market growth in the coming years?

A recent report by JLL indicates that the supply of beds by organised co-living players is expected to increase to about 541,000 across the top seven cities by 2023, with Delhi NCR and Bengaluru accounting for more than 50% of the cumulative capacity. By 2023, India’s urban co-living market is set to become an INR 1-trillion opportunity.

Q: Do you see any foreseeable challenges for India’s co-living market that can possibly hinder its growth?

A: Co-living is a relatively new concept in India, but the millennial generation has picked it very quickly. Traditional PGs are evolving too. The whole industry is after providing a unique experience that you do not get while living in a regular PG or a rented flat. There are a few roadblocks but in the longer run, co-living is a viable model for business and for the customers as well.

Q: Looking back at your rich entrepreneurial career, any piece of advice that you’d like to give to all the budding entrepreneurs out there.    

A: All entrepreneurs should be able to identify the challenges in their respective fields and focus on solving the problems rather than just focusing on one aspect, be it money or business model. More often than not, startups that do not solve problems in the longer run, do not last for long. At a personal level, grit, emotional maturity and flexibility goes a long way in managing a start-up

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