Settl is a Bengaluru-based Indian co-living operator that rents shared rooms, private rooms and furnished apartments to working professionals in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Gurugram and Chennai.

This Startup Deep Dive explains what Settl does, how it makes money, who backs it, how it compares with rivals and what could go wrong, using publicly available information. It is educational and not investment advice. Last updated: October 2026.

Settl in Brief

• What it is: Settl is an Indian Co-living company based in Bengaluru.
• Who it serves: businesses, institutions, consumers, learners and public-sector buyers.
• Lets users find and rent shared living spaces, private rooms or fully furnished apartments with modern amenities.
• Targets working professionals with per-bed or whole-apartment rentals.
• Operates 60+ co-living centres with a capacity of about 4,000 beds.
• Funding: About Rs 14.9 crore (Entrackr); CB Insights shows about $1.7 million across 5 rounds, so reports differ.

Settl Quick Facts

Figures marked “reported” come from published reports and may differ between sources; “Not disclosed” means no reliable public figure was found.

What Is Settl?

Settl operates in the Co-living space in India. Understanding a company like this starts with three questions: who is the customer, what painful problem is being solved, and why the solution is better than the alternatives. The sections below apply that lens to Settl.

• Lets users find and rent shared living spaces, private rooms or fully furnished apartments with modern amenities.
• Targets working professionals with per-bed or whole-apartment rentals.
• Operates 60+ co-living centres with a capacity of about 4,000 beds.
• Runs in four cities: Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Gurugram and Chennai.
• Beds are priced at roughly Rs 12,500 to Rs 18,000 per month.

The Origin Story of Settl

Every company starts from a noticed gap and a team willing to commit to closing it. Strong origin stories are specific: a clear problem, a founding team with relevant skills, and an early product that real customers could test. Founder-market fit, meaning the team’s lived experience or technical depth in the domain, tends to predict how fast a young company learns.

• Founders: Abhishek Tripathi, Bharath Bhaskar.
• Reported as founded in 2020 by former NestAway executives; Entrackr names Abhishek Tripathi as founder and a 2021 Entrepreneur report names Bharath Bhaskar as a co-founder, so the founder list is not fully settled.
• By November 2021 the company had been operating for over a year, with about 1,200 beds across two cities.
• It described its idea as combining co-living with co-working in a tech-driven flexible living platform.

Key Milestones and Challenges

No startup grows in a straight line. Early years usually involve slow adoption, product rewrites, hiring mistakes and funding gaps. In the Co-living sector the common turning points are a first paying customer, a regulatory approval, a successful product demonstration or a funding round that lets the team invest ahead of demand. How a team responds to setbacks says more about resilience than any single headline.

• November 2021: raised a $500,000 seed round from ah! Ventures, We Founder Circle and other angels.
• November 2021: about 1,200 beds across two cities, with demand reportedly growing 30% quarter on quarter.
• January 2024: raised Rs 10 crore pre-Series A from Gruhas and We Founder Circle.
• By early 2024: 60+ centres and about 4,000 beds across four cities.

Settl Funding and Investors

Funding history shows how much outside confidence a company has attracted and how long it can operate before needing more capital. Figures below are reported and may differ between sources; valuation figures are estimates unless the company has confirmed them.

• November 2021: $500,000 seed from ah! Ventures, We Founder Circle and angels.
• January 2024: Rs 10 crore pre-Series A led by Gruhas and We Founder Circle; Anthill Ventures, Inflection Point Ventures, Nila Spaces, Soonicorn Ventures, Pai Ventures and Ekyum also listed as investors.
• Proceeds were earmarked for working capital, team expansion and technology.

How Does Settl Make Money? (Business Model)

A business model describes who pays, how often and how much it costs to serve them. Strong models show repeat usage, improving margins with scale and acquisition channels that do not depend only on paid spend. Weak models show one-off sales, rising costs and growth that stops when spending stops. For companies selling to businesses, institutions, consumers, learners and public-sector buyers, sales cycles and contract size matter as much as headline growth.

• Rents beds and rooms to working professionals on a monthly basis, either per bed or as a whole apartment.
• Pricing is about Rs 12,500 to Rs 18,000 per bed.
• Uses a tech platform for discovery and booking of rooms.

The Numbers: Settl Financials

Financial figures show whether growth is turning into a self-sustaining business. Small and private companies often disclose little, so any number below is included only if it was found in public reporting.

• FY23: revenue about Rs 15.4 crore per one aggregator and Rs 16.33 crore per Entrackr; reports differ.
• FY24: revenue about Rs 31.3 crore, roughly double FY23, against an internal target of about Rs 41 crore.
• FY25: no figures found.

Market Opportunity for Settl

Market size is easy to exaggerate, so a useful approach separates the total market from the portion a company can realistically reach with its current product and distribution. The main forces behind demand in this sector are rising digital adoption, cloud and mobile penetration, growing enterprise technology spending, government digitisation programmes and a deep pool of engineering talent. Each of these widens the opportunity, but capital efficiency and execution decide who captures it.

• Competes in the Indian co-living and managed accommodation market aimed at students and working professionals.
• Pricing and occupancy depend on proximity to tech hubs in large metros.

Technology and Product at Settl

Technology is rarely the whole moat, but it drives speed, cost and customer experience. A practical way to assess it is to separate the capability the company controls from the commodity infrastructure it rents. In this sector the important factors are product quality, data and integration depth, security, scalability and the speed of shipping improvements.

• Describes itself as a tech-driven platform; the 2021 funding was meant to upgrade its technology stack.

Team and Culture at Settl

Teams are the most important and least measurable asset of a young company. Look at how complementary the founders’ skills are, how deep the second layer of leadership is, and how the company hires and retains specialists. Culture shows up in small repeated behaviours: how quickly bad news travels upward and whether commitments to customers are kept.

• Founders are reported as Abhishek Tripathi and Bharath Bhaskar (reports differ on who is named).
• Reported to have been founded by former NestAway executives.

Settl Competitors: Competitive Landscape

A fair competitive analysis names direct rivals, adjacent players who could move into the space, and the customer’s default alternative. Durable advantages include proprietary data or technology, licences and approvals, brand trust, switching costs and cost leadership.

Risks and Challenges for Settl

• Reports say security deposit refunds to former tenants were delayed in several cities, with cases dragging since January 2024; the company attributed delays to internal discrepancies or banking issues.
• Small funding base relative to larger co-living rivals.
• Reported losses and no FY25 figures found.
• Depends on lease-based inventory and occupancy.
• Competition: low barriers to entry and well-funded rivals can compress pricing and slow growth.
• Funding risk: technology businesses often burn cash before reaching profit and depend on investor appetite.

Risk is not a reason to avoid a company; it is a reason to price it correctly and to monitor the right indicators over time. Regulation in this sector is shaped by data protection rules under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, sector regulators, consumer protection law and IT rules.

Settl Growth Outlook: What to Watch

• The January 2024 round was meant to fund expansion and technology; later progress was not found in the sources read.
• Outcome will depend on resolving deposit refund complaints and reaching profitability.
• Key indicators: recurring revenue, customer retention, gross margin, customer acquisition cost and runway.
• Funding position: Whether Settl can reach its next milestone before needing new capital.
• Regulation: Changes from data protection rules under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, sector regulators, consumer protection law and IT rules.

Industry Context: Where Settl Fits

India's technology startup ecosystem is one of the largest in the world, supported by cheap data, a large base of smartphone users, digital public infrastructure and a deep engineering talent pool. Companies now build for education, software, mobility, logistics, agriculture, defence, media and more, selling both to Indian customers and abroad.

Durable technology companies usually combine a clear customer problem with repeatable distribution and disciplined unit economics. Growth funded only by spending tends to fade, while products that customers keep using and paying for build compounding advantages.

For readers new to this field, a useful habit is to separate announcements from evidence. A plan, a partnership or a funding headline describes intent, while a delivered product, a paying customer or an audited financial statement describes results. Comparing the two over time shows how reliably a company turns promises into outcomes.

Bull Case and Bear Case for Settl

An investment thesis is a short, testable statement of why a company could become far more valuable, together with what evidence would prove it wrong. The points below are general to this sector and are not forecasts for Settl.

Bull case

• A large and growing base of digital users and businesses expands the addressable market.
• Recurring revenue and strong retention can compound growth.
• Selling into global markets widens the opportunity beyond India.

Bear case

• Heavy competition can compress pricing and margins.
• Dependence on external funding can force painful cost cuts.
• Regulation or platform changes can disrupt a product quickly.

Lessons Founders and Investors Can Take from Settl

Studying a company in the Co-living space offers lessons that go beyond any single firm. The points below are general lessons for the sector and are not claims about Settl.

• Solving a clear, frequent customer problem matters more than adding features.
• Retention and repeat usage are better health signals than sign-ups.
• Disciplined spending extends runway and keeps options open when funding tightens.
• Distribution, not just product quality, decides who wins in crowded markets.
• Building trust through data protection and reliability is part of the product.

How to Evaluate Settl as a Startup

• Customer clarity: Can Settl name its customer and the problem it solves in one sentence?
• Evidence of demand: Look for repeat customers, signed contracts or measurable usage rather than announcements alone.
• Economics: Check whether margins improve as volume grows.
• Execution: Compare announced timelines with what has actually been delivered.
• Funding runway: Estimate how long current capital lasts at the present spending rate.
• Regulatory standing: Confirm required approvals are in place.
• Customer concentration: Check whether a few customers account for most of the revenue.
• Management depth: Look for experienced leaders beyond the founders and a stable core team.

The Takeaway

Settl is part of India’s growing Co-living ecosystem. The useful lesson from studying it is the discipline of asking structured questions about customers, economics, advantage and resilience. Companies that answer them well, repeatedly and under pressure are the ones that endure. Readers should treat any single report, ranking or funding headline as one input among many, and should re-check key facts against recent company announcements. Because public information on young companies is often limited, patience in verifying claims is part of good analysis. Public sources can also describe the same company in different ways, so it is worth checking dates, definitions and whether a figure refers to revenue, total income or transaction value, and whether it covers one entity or a wider group, before drawing conclusions. Small differences in rounding, currency conversion or reporting periods can also change how a figure reads. Comparing the same figure across several recent reports helps show whether it is stable or has changed over time. This article is educational and is not investment advice.

• Clear customers and repeat demand matter more than announcements.
• Regulation and capital needs shape how fast a startup in this sector can grow.
• Track a few leading indicators over time rather than one headline metric.

Settl FAQs: Frequently Asked Questions

What is Settl?

Settl is a Bengaluru-based Indian co-living operator that rents shared rooms, private rooms and furnished apartments to working professionals in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Gurugram and Chennai. It is profiled in the Startup Deep Dive series, which explains business model, funding, competitors and risks.

Who founded Settl?

Settl was founded by Abhishek Tripathi, Bharath Bhaskar, and the company reports a founding year of 2020.

How much funding has Settl raised?

About Rs 14.9 crore (Entrackr); CB Insights shows about $1.7 million across 5 rounds, so reports differ. Funding figures are reported and may differ between sources, so readers should check the latest company announcements.

How does Settl make money?

Settl earns revenue from its Co-living products and services sold to businesses, institutions, consumers, learners and public-sector buyers. The exact revenue mix is described in the business model section and is not fully disclosed publicly.

Who are the competitors of Settl?

Reported rivals include Colive, Zolo (Zolostays), Stanza Living, HooLiv. See the competitor comparison above for how they differ.

What are the main risks for Settl?

Main risks include competition: low barriers to entry and well-funded rivals can compress pricing and slow growth, funding and capital needs, competition and regulation by data protection rules under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, sector regulators, consumer protection law and IT rules. This is educational content, not investment advice.

Related Startup Deep Dives: Blissclub — Raised Rs 160 crore Series B led by Singularity AMC; FY25 revenue Rs 131.5 crore, loss Rs 20 crore | Carzonrent — BTS Investment Advisors invested about Rs 36 crore (about $7 million) in Carzonrent in January 2011. Browse the full Startup Deep Dive series.

Source

Source: Publicly available data, published reports, industry research, and other credible sources.