The Hosteller Bags INR 48 Cr Led By V3 Ventures

Traveltech startup The Hosteller has raised a fresh funding of INR 48 Cr (around $5.7 Mn) led by existing investor V3 Ventures in a mix of debt and equity infusion.

The investment includes a debt of INR 16 Cr from venture capital firm Blacksoil.

The equity round saw additional participation from investors, including Real Time Angel Fund, Ice Venture Capital, Synergy Capital Partners, Unit-e Consulting, along with angel investors like Shree Naman Group’s VP Harsh Shah and Vedang Patel, founder of The Souled Store.

“With these funds we’ll be opening roughly 75 additional properties pan India,” The Hosteller founder Pranav Dangi told Inc42.

The startup said in a statement that it plans to deploy the fresh capital to expand its footprint across India and strengthen its base in existing cities such as Rishikesh, Manali, Bengaluru and Delhi, among others.

Founded in 2015 by Dangi and Sumit Mishra, The Hosteller offers various affordable and accessible backpacker hostels in different locations across India for travellers.

“We aim to have 10000 beds by March 2026 from the existing 2500 beds. Backpacker hostels have become the go to choice for GenZ and millennials travellers in the post-covid era. The fresh capital will not only accelerate our expansion but also help us acquire customers from the newer territories,” Dangi also said.

This comes close on the heels of the company raising INR 32 Cr (around $4 Mn) from V3 Ventures and others in September.

Meanwhile, it is notable that most enterprises across sectors have raised funds recently, with plans of expanding their business to new regions across India.

For instance, EV ride sharing platform Hala Mobility raised Pre Series A funding of  INR 51 Cr ($6 Mn)  in a mix of debt and equity infusion, earlier this week, to scale up its EV fleet and expand into six additional cities across India.

Prior to that, ayurvedic nutrition brand Kapiva was looking for an internal funding round of INR 300-330 Cr (around $40 Mn) to expand its operations and enhance market presence, as per reports.

Updated at 11:44 AM