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Bangalore’s startup ecosystem has just added another novel concept- an affordable hostel for startup entrepreneurs – the Construkt Startup Hostel. Founded by Shashikiran Rao, the co-founder and head of business development at Construkt, and Karan Bahadur, the hostel aims not only to offer a cost-effective boarding facility to startups but also creat touch-points for the community to mingle in the city which is often touted as India’s Silicon valley.
The idea to open the Construct Startup hostel was inspired by Rao’s visit to Berlin last year, where he got a chance to interact with many from the entrepreneurial community. On his return, Rao conducted a small survey “of founders of startups and realized that there was a requirement of at least 18,000 room nights per year.” This sowed the seed of a startup hostel where startup founders could meet more likeminded people, just like the backpacker tribe. Inspired by them, the hostel tag line says, “ Home for the hackpacker in you.”
The three storied hostel is located in one of Bengaluru’s biggest startup hubs Indiranagar, and is painted in cheerful orange and white hues. Work started on the 3500 sq ft rented place last November, with around INR 22 lakh spent on doing up the place. Priced at INR 850 a bed per day, Construkt offers bunk beds in rooms that are shared between two to eight persons.
Startup founders can avail of facilities such as free Wi-Fi, a self-catering kitchen, a space for small events, laundry space and lots of coffee. A lot of the stuff in the hostel is recycled, mirroring the creative and jugaad streak of an entrepreneur. The hostel was officially thrown open on May 9.
Construkt is also looking to expand to other startup hubs in the country like Chennai, Hyderabad and Kochi. Also on the cards, is exploring the option of following a ClassPass-like model, wherein customers would be allowed to take a room at various locations pan-India through a flat-rate subscription.
One look at the orange bunk beds and the multi-hued and bright upholstery, and you would agree this is just the place for hustlers to be!
Shashikaran and Karan are not new as far as involvement with the startup community is concerned. In 2012, he started Construct Media along with Karan Bahadur in order to cater to budding entrepreneurs through workshops and startup festivals. With the startup hostel, he has taken one more step towards helping entrepreneurs foster connections, give them a like-minded environment, and celebrate the spirit of entrepreneurship.
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