Your-Space, a new business that intends to disrupt the student housing market by delivering premium services - plus comfort and safety that feels like home - the rooms feel like hotels, completely equipped and well-maintained.
However, most Indian students, particularly those who come to their city of dreams from remote villages or small towns to seek higher education, are not that fortunate.
Because of the soaring rents in the cities, they often spend days, if not weeks, hunting for a suitable home in the lack of a solid, branded student-housing solution. They eventually settle for a shabby apartment with unknown persons. Furthermore, some students spend the majority of their time doing daily tasks rather than studying.
Even as students residing in dormitories, the co-founders of the start-up, Shubha Lal, Karan Kaushish, and Nidhi Kumra, all in their early 30s, recognized the need for a clean, serviced, home-like place. But they had no idea at the time that they would one day fill the void.
In July 2016, we opened our first girls' hostel in Greater Noida, and within a month, we had 100 percent occupancy " Shubha clarified.
However, going forward, Your-Space will stop leasing buildings and instead produce housing in collaboration with developers. Kaushish, an alumnus of the University of Oxford's Said Business School, disclosed the news, adding that the small start-up will undergo further adjustments in the future.
"Currently, Your-Space can only accommodate female students. However, we have discovered that the housing conditions of male students are also inadequate. From 2018, we intend to provide accommodation options for boys as well "Kaushish said.
With higher education establishments continuing to expand and an expected projection of over 300 million college students by 2025, India's market opportunity remains enormous.
With well-organized businesses like Your-Space on an aggressive growth spree, the face of the segment is expected to change shortly as more of them enter the market.
This year, the creators of Your-Space hope to more than quadruple their capacity and extend to other educational centers in the Delhi NCR region, as well as other cities.