How This Start-up is Upgrading Millennials' Lifestyle by 'Smart Co-living' Paving the way for gated community 2.0

Millennials nowadays are caught in the hustle-bustle of life like never before. From their phones to their partners, they expect anything and everything to be smart! While finding a smart partner or phone may seem like a not-very-difficult scenario, however, the idea of "smart living' of "co-living' is the newest trend to join the block.

Colive, a technology-driven co-living space provider start-up of fully managed rental homes for the young working professionals and couples, recently grabbed the eyeballs of investors for its unique idea and also raised $9.2 Mn in Series A funding.

Aligning with the Demand of the Millennials

Suresh Rangarajan, Founder and CEO of Colive shares with Entrepreneur India what led to the inception of Colive and the problems that he and his team are endeavouring to solve with his venture. He says, "Owing to rapidly changing career demands many Millennials and Gen Z face a challenge in finding accommodation according to their desired lifestyle." Additionally, he adds, that traffic-choked metro cities make it essential for them to stay in close proximity to their workspaces.

"Considering this we have properties in major IT hubs and we make property search and accommodation hassle-free for all customers by giving them all information and access all amenities at the tips of their fingertips."

In north India, especially, the "PG" or "Paying Guest" is a concept people relate with the most. However, Rangarajan corrects and says that "smart co-living" is an upgraded form of living. He says that smart co-living is different from the quintessential paying guest format in 4 ways.

First, smart co-living is about the "chic lifestyle" which entails style, design and trendy way of living that is the basic vibe of millennials.

Second, smart co-living, puts safety and security of paramount importance. Rangarajan shares that technology like artificial intelligence helps them maintain operational efficiency as they have hundreds of buildings to take care of. Facial recognition access for staff and delivery personnel is a good way to scrutinize the entrance and exit of unwanted people. Emergency response team, access card managed entry system and automated management system is disrupting and rolling a new dimension for living.

Third is the expense. Rangarajan shares that all services are bundled into one box that is available and which reduces the cost of commodities bought separately.

And fourth is the aspect of "co" or community living. Millennials are very particular about how they spend their lives and with whom. Colive is based on the values of the power of community.

Disrupting the Industry

Rangarajan shares, "Backed by a team having strong design thinking and understanding the DNA of the real estate, our space is equipped with basic facilities such as housekeeping, laundry services, security and meals, apart from additional facilities such as gaming consoles, libraries, gyms, pools and high-speed Wi-Fi." This space is redefining the meaning of gated community which was predominantly enjoyed by the families living together in a flat. Coliving is paving the way for gated community 2.0.

Rangarajan shares his plans for the future and how he will utilize the funds received from the funding round. "With the fund that we raised by entering into a partnership with Salarpuria Sattva Group, we will be heading forward to expand Colive operations in new markets such as Hyderabad, Mumbai and Pune. We now have more firepower to turn Colive into an entirely full-stack, tech-driven platform." He also adds that his plan is to invest in the built-to suit model inventory for co-living purposes and scale up operations from 12,000 beds to 1 lakh beds over the next two years.

Colive has major competition in the industry. The rental market is a billion-dollar market. However, with its unique concept and the bent of "chic" lifestyle can help it scale mountains!