IDG Ventures, InMobi’s Naveen Tewari Infuses INR 8 Cr. Into Online Home Rental Firm NestAway

Bangalore-based online rental firm NestAway Technologies has received funding amounting to INR 8 Cr. from InMobi founder Naveen Tewari and venture capital firm IDG Ventures.

The Bangalore-based startup plans on utilising the funding for further expansion of its operations in the National Capital Region and Pune.

Launched in January 2015 by NIT Suratkal alumnis Amarendra Sahu, Jitendra Jagadev, Smruti Parida and Deepak Dhar, NestAway is a managed repository of home rentals and uses technology to provide better rental solutions to singles in the cities.

Commenting on the rationale behind the investment, Naveen Tewari, founder of the mobile advertising and analytics technology firm InMobi, said “NestAway is a disruptive product creating a win-win opportunity not just for direct stakeholders like owners and tenants but for the society at large by making cities safer especially for young women. It (NestAway) also contributes to the long-term growth of real estate market in cities by improving yields. It’s indeed a unicorn opportunity.”

Amarendra Sahu, a chief executive of NestAway said, “Our cities are growing increasingly unsafe. While all of us are to be blamed for it, unfortunately the singles, especially youth, who come to a new city to start their career or search for a job, are worst hit. We deny them the houses they deserve because we think they are ‘a ticking time bomb’.Our goal is to help bridge this trust gap.”

Sahu, is also the Co-founder of television technology startup BrizzTV along with Jagadev. A farmer’s son and first engineer from his village Kantio in Orissa, Sahu decided to launch NestAway when his sister couldn’t find a rented home in Bengaluru.

Recently, NoBroker, a peer-to-peer property listing startup, closed a $3 Mn round of Series A funding from SAIF Partners and Fulcrum Ventures to expand service beyond its current bases of Mumbai and Bengaluru.