India: Luxury holiday home brand Vista Rooms has raised Rs 10 crore [approximately US$1.37 million] in funding led by DSG Consumer Partners, with participation from CA Holdings, Artha India Ventures and Everest Flavours founder Anand Ladsariya.
Founded in 2015, Vista Rooms manages a portfolio of around 400 privately owned luxury villas, holiday homes and homestays in India. It typically caters to family getaways, friends’ reunions and corporate travel.
The company is planning to direct the funds raised towards four key areas of the business – launching new locations, improving technology, strengthening the team, and enhancing its brand awareness. In addition, Vista Rooms is targeting an aggressive period of scalability over the next 18 to 24 months, to take its network of properties to more than 1,000 homes.
Co-founder Ankita Sheth said: “Homestays are becoming the vacation of choice, encouraged by work from home and online school. As people become comfortable with the concept of staycations, we have seen our customers return for more bookings in new locations and homes.
“We are currently at a major growth stage, and the funds will enable us to accelerate our pace,” she added.
Prior to the latest funding injection, Vista Rooms had raised over Rs 5 crore [approximately US$686,000] from investors such as Sequoia Capital India managing director Rajan Anandan, Artha India Ventures, Singapore Angel Network and Singularity Ventures.
The firm said its occupancy rates were 50 per cent higher than pre-pandemic levels during the most recent peak holiday season, as it benefited from a surge in pent-up demand for domestic staycations.
DSG Consumer Partners’ managing director Deepak Shahdadpuri said: “The vacation rental segment addresses a clear pain point for both travellers and homeowners. This segment is poised for massive growth and Vista is well-positioned to capitalise on this with its market leadership.
“The company has a clear focus on curating and delivering excellent guest experiences which is reflected in their direct business and repeat guests,” he added.
