JSW Ventures leads Rs 40 Cr investment round in Stayvista

JSW Ventures, an arm of the diversified conglomerate JSW Group, on Thursday announced that it has led a Rs 40 crore investment round in villa rental company Stayvista.

Existing investors DSG Consumer Partners and Capri Global Family Office also participated in the round, and the newly raised money will be deployed for expansion purposes, as per an official statement.

The company, which has 1,000 properties in operation across 85 locations and boasts of serving over 10 lakh customers to date, will also be strengthening its team and improving customer experience with the new funding, it said.

JSW Ventures Managing Partner Sachin Tagra said Stayvista is the largest player in the space, which can capitalise on the increasing preference for alternative accommodation instead of hotels among travellers, and also said that it is a capital-efficient business.

The company's co-founder, Pranav Maheshwari, said it has turned profitable and aspires to shape Stayvista into not just India's largest villa hospitality brand but also the largest platform for alternative accommodations in India.

The properties listed on Stayvista's platform are largely second homes owned by individuals, the release said, adding that this is a win-win model for both homeowners as well as travellers.

Rising disposable incomes and flexible work models have helped in the growth of the vacation rental market to $22.3 billion, and the same is estimated to grow 9% every year to $34.1 billion by 2029, the statement said.

JSW Ventures is an early-stage institutional venture capital fund investing in technology-led startups, and its past bets include ones in consumer and consumer tech, platform companies across healthtech, agritech, fintech, and enterprise software as a service companies leveraging artificial intelligence.