Stanza Living bought an IoT startup to run its 75,000 beds

Stanza Living provides managed rental accommodation for students and working professionals across 23 Indian cities

Owning IoT technology in-house — not licensing it — lets a 75,000-bed operator customise managed living at scale

All-cash deal, terms undisclosed; Stanza had raised close to $220 Mn in debt and equity combined, backed by Alpha Wave Incubation, Equity International, Falcon Edge, Sequoia India, Matrix, Accel, Kotak Mahindra Bank, RBL Bank and Alteria Capital

Founded in 2017 by Sandeep Dalmia and Anindya Dutta, Stanza Living offers rental solutions for students and working professionals, with technology 'at the forefront of everything we do', per cofounder Anindya Dutta.

The all-cash acquisition came a week after Stanza's $57 Mn debt raise from Kotak Mahindra Bank, RBL Bank and Alteria Capital. Post-deal, Stanza would field a 100+ member technology team, with Singularity Automation's founders and core team joining to develop customised IoT solutions for managed accommodation. The coliving sector, hit hard by the pandemic, had recovered sharply in 2021; a Colliers white paper projected 4,50,000 coliving beds by 2024 versus 2,10,000 at the end of 2021. Competitors included Your-Space, Zolo Stays, Oyo Life, NoBroker (fresh off a $210 Mn Series E), Roome and NestAway.

IoT controls for access, utilities and rooms are core to running 75,000 beds profitably.

Buying the vendor beats integrating with it when customisation is the differentiator.

The fresh $57 Mn debt round provided the cash for the all-cash deal.

Singularity's whole team joining kept the product roadmap inside Stanza.

Operations-heavy startups end up buying their own vendors: the technology behind a physical experience is strategic, not a line item.

Singularity's founders and core team joined Stanza, bringing its technology team to 100+ members. No revenue, bed-occupancy or integration milestones were reported.