Make In Odisha Conclave 2018: Meet The Young Odia Behind Online Home Rental Startup NestAway

Bhubaneswar: Nestaway, an online home rental network has establishd itself in a surprisingly short time. Started by Amarendra Sahu, a computer science engineer (NIT Suratkal) hailing from Dhenkanal in Odisha with the help of his three friends, Deepak Dhar, Jitendra Jagadev, and Smruti Parida, the online startup’s offering of a nest/abode away from home gained popularity in no time.

“In big cities, the unmarried people or singles had trouble finding a house to rent, and rent in decent localities was very high. I had a problem getting a rented house in 2014 in Bangalore. So, this idea cropped up and we set up NestAway, an online venture in which we turn unfurnished houses into fully-furnished and managed apartments, and provide them at affordable prices to pre-verified tenants for long term. Anyone can book it through our website. Our main motto is to create a nationwide chain of quality rental homes that fulfill some standard expectations for anyone who wants it.

The youngsters captured the market in Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune, Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad and is presently eyeing on Chennai. Their app provides better rental solutions for both tenants and homeowners and every sort of payment, rentals, billing etc is online. From the search and schedule appointment to the booking and closure, even raising the service ticket, everything can be done via the app. Payments are done via online wallets. They also provide free relocation to any other NestAway home across India

When asked on its prospects in Odisha, he said, “Maybe by the end of 2019, we can extend it to Odisha.”

A small startup started with 5 houses in Bangalore, NestAway officially launched their app in January 2015, this venture is now an Rs 700 crores investment company, employing around 1700 employees. Around 50,000 tenants have already been benefitted through this app.

This startup app aims at solving the youth housing crisis of upwardly mobile urban migrants in cities. It provides single family rentals, paying guest accommodation, sharing apartments, and cater to customers who are primarily in the 22-30 age category.

It also runs a Facebook group called 'Nesties' for their community, where both owners and tenants can share photos etc.

Sharing his experiences at Make In Odisha Conclave 2018, Amarendra had a piece of advice for youngsters who want to venture into such startups.

“Take up an issue or problem which you think can be solved by you uniquely. One should be passionate about his work. The initial few months after the startup is very strenuous, no one really cares about your startup, but slowly it will gather momentum.”