There are two kinds of people in this world – one that see a problem, crib about it and learn to adjust and another who see a problem, bang their head till they find a solution and finally come up with something that truly works. There are no points for guessing who ends up bringing something that “innovates and disrupts”.
The same came be said about Uday Lakkar and his venture CoHo, short for Comfortable Homes. Uday is the name behind Zocalo.in, the most successful broker-free listing platform for PGs, shared apartments and hostels. It was here that he witnessed the gap in finding a quality accommodation and realized that bridging it is an opportunity waiting to be monetized and exploited. Thus was born CoHo.
CoHo is a co-living space in India offering managed villas and apartments and bridging the aforementioned gap with its innovative use of technology and start-up ecosystem. The target audience are the millennials, in the age group of 18-32, who are moving out of their homes for education and/or work and are looking for a good, hassle free, yet affordable living experience. While PGs do not make up the ‘good’ criterion, apartments come up with a lot of hassles and strings attached.
All these issues are handled by CoHo. The cumbersome house searching, unnecessary brokerage fee, long security deposits – all are removed. One just needs to move into the spacious, AC, well furnished rooms with their clothes and that is enough. The maintenance, repairs, housekeeping, Wi-Fi, power-backup are on the house. All this in the price range of Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 for double sharing and Rs 18,000 to Rs 25,000 for single occupancy make it easy on the pocket, too.
The latest feature added to the impressive portfolio is that of CoHo dorms. They have been specifically created keeping the needs of the student community in mind. With everything else being handled for them, they can easily transition to life alone for the first time away from home. The endless supply of soups, coffee and tea ensures that they can work on those n number of assignments in peace.
Throughout its journey CoHo has always leveraged its technology advantage. In the words of its founder – “We are a tech-enabled venture pioneering the concept of Coliving Spaces in India…. The idea is to bring in superior living experience at affordable price points, by leveraging technology for seamless user interactions with end-to-end home services like housekeeping, repairs, maintenance, high-speed internet and other utilities.”
Another factor that makes CoHo such a huge hit in the coliving space is the engaging initiatives for residents which it continually undertakes. They have tied up with various start-ups and service providers to get residents exclusive discounts and offers such as tasting events, services discounts, etc. like BeerCafe, VanityCube, AHA Taxis, Kingdom of Dreams, FoodPanda, InnerChef and many more.
CoHo is not a space where one exists for some time before moving on to something more permanent. It is a home in a new unknown place, an experience that ensures you are truly living!!
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