Student accommodation platform Amber has raised $21 million in its latest funding round led by private equity firm Gaja Capital with participation from investment firm Lighthouse Canton and Stride, the company announced on Monday. The capital will be deployed for global expansion and to enhance offerings for property managers and students. Founded in 2017, Amber said it has more than 1 million beds listed on its platform across seven countries viz., the UK, the US, Australia, Ireland, Canada, Germany, and Spain.
Saurabh Goel, CEO of Amber said, “At Amber, we have been deeply obsessed with solving the house-hunting process, starting with students. Having experienced this first-hand, we noticed a significant gap in the customer experience for a need as “fundamental” as housing. In other sectors, we have seen technology-led disruption, but surprisingly the house-hunting process remains archaic.”
As a large number of students seek higher education every year across the world and spend around half of their non-tuition student expenses on housing, the startup focuses on simplifying housing for students by eliminating broker negotiations and streamlining paperwork and payment processes.
“Amber exemplifies a unique combination of tech-driven scale, high growth, profitability, and capital efficiency that is exceedingly rare in today’s market. The global increase in student enrolments underpinned by a long-term study abroad trend is fuelling the organized student housing market,” said Gopal Jain, Managing Partner, Gaja Capital.
Gaja Capital is a growth-stage private equity firm that invests in technology businesses in education, software, financial services and consumer segments. Its portfolio includes digital banking infrastructure enabler Signzy, sales execution software LeadSquared, e-commerce fulfilment company Xpressbees and more.
According to a 2023 study by Colliers India, the student housing sector is emerging to be a sought-after asset class, given the rising demand for quality student accommodation. The student relocation within the country stood at around 11 million and is expected to touch 31 million by 2036.
Moreover, only 7.5 million student beds at on-campus accommodations are there pan-India which is not enough to meet the demand or projected demand in the future.