Coliving operator Settl to expand 2.5 times in FY'24 to 5000 beds; plans to enter Noida, Pune, Chennai

by Priya Jadhav

Bangalore, July 3:  Coliving operator Setll plans to expand its capacity by more than 2.5 times to 5000 beds by the end of this fiscal and is looking to enter the Noida, Pune and Chennai markets.

The company, which focuses on providing quality rental accommodations to working professionals, currently has around 2000 beds across Bengaluru, Gurugram and Hyderabad across 40 centres.

The Bengaluru-based startup charges between Rs 12,000 and Rs 18,000 per-bed.

"We are currently present in three cities dominated by IT firms. We are now actively looking at entering Noida, Pune and Chennai where a lot of professionals are working in IT and other sectors. We anticipate strong demand for quality coliving centre in these cities," Settl Co-Founder Mr. Abhishek Tripathi said.

The company is in an advanced stage of discussion with a few property owners in three cities where it has a presence as well as three new cities. The agreements are likely to be signed by September.

"The coliving segment was one of the worst affected sectors because of the closure of offices and educational institutions. But, it has bounced back sharply with employees returning to office fully or in hybrid mode," he added.

Employees will need rental accommodations in cities even if they have to go to the office for 2 days a week, he said.

Settl's revenue jumped to Rs 16.75 crore last fiscal from Rs 6.75 crore in the previous year.

Settl is targeting Rs 41 crore revenue for the current fiscal year, driven by better occupancy levels in the existing centres and expansion in new as well as existing cities.

"As we, at Settl, celebrate our 3rd anniversary, we are projected to become the number one player in the premium co-living segment, especially catering to the urban working population," Mr. Tripathi said.

Settl has adopted an asset-light model, which helps it to expand at a fast pace. It ties up with property owners to open new centres.

"We currently are operationally profitable and are projected to become EBIDTA-positive by the end of the 2024 fiscal year," he said.