Chiratae Ventures

IDG Ventures India, Naveen Tewari & Angel Investors invest in home rentals portal Nestaway Technolog

Bangalore
March 13, 2015

Nestaway is India’s first “managed home rental” marketplace attempting to provide better rental solutions via design and technology to singles in the cities. It turns unbranded, unfurnished houses into fully furnished & managed apartments and provide them at affordable prices to pre-verified tenants.

It’s a win-win solution for both owners & tenants. House owners get 30 – 40% more rental income from their homes as well as assistance in managing it. For tenants, NestAway is their one-stop shop to find a homely & comfortable accommodation shared with like-minded individuals.

NestAway currently operates in Bangalore & will be launching in NCR & Pune soon.

NestAway is founded by Amarendra Sahu, Jitendra Jagadev, Smruti Parida & Deepak Dhar. Amar & Jitendra are founders of BrizzTV – a TV tech start-up whereas Smruti founded Sen6 – an art market place. Deepak was head of operations with Citrus Payments. The founders studied together at NIT Suratkal and come with strong technology, startup and operating experience. Amarendra, CEO, is an alumnus of IIM Bangalore.

Market Size –
Managed Home rental is a large market in cities given the pace of urbanization & the day to day challenges of managing a rental property. There are about 2 million housing units of NRIs alone in the top 10 cities. Add to that another 3 million units by owners who live in a different city.

Karthik Prabhakar, IDG Ventures India Advisors, said “NestAway offers a full-stack solution to both house owners and tenants with a single face to both stakeholders, leveraging the existing strong unorganized broker market. With internal migrants accounting for a third of India’s overall population, there is a large need for affordable and reliable rental housing in the country. The top 10 states in the country account for more than 75% of the urban housing shortage and hence an acute need for rental housing. On the other hand, there is a large supply of houses owned by NRIs or others who live in a different city and looking for reliable platforms who can take care of their asset while generating yield. NestAway takes care of the needs of both the sides of the network and is compliant with the Model Tenancy Act 2011 which is pending government enactment”

Amarendra, Co-founder & CEO, said “Our cities are growing increasingly unsafe. While all of us are to be blamed for it, unfortunately the singles – especially youth who come to a new city to start their career or search for a job are worst hit. We deny them the houses they deserve – because we think they are “a ticking time-bomb”. Our goal with NestAway is to help bridge this trust gap so that no city is a stranger”

Rahul Jain, a senior engineer with Cisco and a proud owner of a 2-BHK in Bangalore, was one of the early adopters of NestAway. He said “unlike others, NestAway is a complete solution. They took care of all from showing the house to agreements & now I get my rent on time. I love the hassle free experience”.

Shivani Teotia, an engineer with Accenture who moved from a PG, been staying with NestAway for the past six months really finds it a promising solution – “we just want to thank you for such careful attention to our home. We are settled & couldn’t be happier. It’s a pleasure staying with NestAway coz it feels like home. Thanks a lot for my first abode in Bangalore”

Some pointers:

  • NestAway’s solution will help owners & tenants comply with Model Tenancy Act 2011 which is in draft state.
  • Tech intervention will make rental process smarter, smoother & efficient.
  • Rental increase will help owners close home loan faster.
  • Helpful for NRIs & people who work in a different city.
  • Will make city safer by checking the tenant flow to unregulated PGs.
  • Full stack solution – starting from discovery to fulfilment( showing the house,rental agreement) to services( rent collection, entry/exit inspection)
  • A solution to a real problem & not an APP.

References:
http://mhupa.gov.in/W_new/MODEL_RESIDENTIAL_TENANCY_ACT_2011-24-5-11.pdf
http://www.bangaloremirror.com/bangalore/others/A-war-cry-for-home-rental-regulation/articleshow/46423621.cms

About NestAway
Get in touch? Drop us a line at care@nestaway.com or visit us at www.nestaway.com

About IDG Ventures India
IDG Ventures India is a leading technology venture capital fund in India. The fund is part of IDG Ventures, a global network of technology venture funds with over $6 billion under management with over 220 investee companies and 10 offices across Asia and North America. IDG Ventures has been an investor in companies including Funzio, Ctrip, Tencent, Baidu, Netscape, BabyCenter, Sohu, Vancl and VinaGame. In India, IDG Ventures has invested in companies such as Flipkart, Myntra, Yatra, Newgen, Brainbees (FirstCry.com), Vserv, Manthan Software, Valyoo (Lenskart.com), Ozone Media and Actoserba (Zivame.com). More information about IDG Ventures is available at www.idgvcindia.com