1.Why did you choose Real Estate industry as a career and a subject of speciality for your organization? What was your motivation and how did you find it?

Prior to establishing Colive, I also founded a real estate enterprise called Artha. During my stint there, I realized the immense potential the residential real estate in India has to offer. I studied the market for a long time before deciding to come up with the idea of Colive. The co-living industry presents the next-billion dollar opportunity, and the market is far from being saturated. However, Colive started its journey in 2016, when the country was just warming up to the idea of community living. Over the following years, India witnessed the launch of many co-living space providers, but Colive remains a market leader. This is because we strive to offer an end-to-end experience to our residents. Whether it’s our world-class amenities or the events we organize, every aspect of Colive is quality-driven. Colive properties adhere to 5S’s – Style, Safety, Social, Service, and Savings.

We launched Colive with the vision of providing high-quality accommodations at reasonable prices. Finding a furnished house that has basic amenities is one of the biggest challenges faced by India’s young population. Moreover, people often feel isolated and find it to adjust to unfamiliar surroundings after relocating to a new city. Added to that are factors like rising cost-of-living in metro cities and safety concerns. We wanted to address these problems through Colive by not only providing youngsters with a place to not live, but also a safe space to thrive among likeminded individuals.

2.What were the challenges you faced in the initial stages of your career as an individual and at organisational level? How did you deal with them and what were learnings you learnt from them?

Tapping into the unorganized sector was definitely a challenge for us. We started our operations at a time when co-living was a relatively new concept in India, and the rental housing market was predominated by unorganized players. It took us a lot of efforts to make the stakeholders understand how co-living can be beneficial for them. Apart from that, the lack of quality supplies in this sector poses another big challenge. There is a shortage of built-to-suit properties and we have no choice but to turn apartments of houses into co-living spaces.

The initial months made us stronger as we kept going. Despite the hurdles we came across, we decided to stick to our original business strategy and got better acquainted with our target audience. Our efforts eventually paid off and we emerged as India’s leading tech-driven co-living company.

3.What was your key driving force to become an entrepreneur?

4.What does Colive offer in the field of Real Estate? Please elaborate.

The co-living industry is being touted as the gold-mine of real estate as it remains largely untapped. Reportedly, the co-living sector is going to generate revenue of USD 93 billion annually. As an industry leader, we are not only driving the co-living trend, but also propelling the growth of the residential real estate in India. We are acquiring vacant housing units and turning them into share spaces. At the same time, Colive is addressing the housing woes of urban dwellers.

5.What is unique and ground-breaking in your offerings?

The biggest factor that differentiates Colive from its rivals is our efficient technology-driven process. From finding a suitable property to availing different services, customers can do everything through their mobile phones. So whether it’s signing the rental agreement or paying the rent, we eliminate the requirement for residents to be physically present at any instance. Additionally, we operate on a full-stack model, offering end-to-end service and support to our tenants.

6.Out of your offering what is it that you are most proud of?

7.What is your vision for Colive?

My vision for Colive is to establish it as India’s leading tech-enabled co-living space provider.

8.Currently are you working on any new tech or innovation that our reader community should know about?

Being a digitally-driven brand, we are continuously working towards the development of new tech-based solutions that improve our service. SHONA is our proprietary AI-based chatbot that can answer any property-related queries within seconds. Integration of chatbot into our website and app has allowed us to offer 24x7 customer assistance.

With groundwater levels depleting at an alarming rate, India is already facing the problem of erratic and irregular water supply. To address this challenge, we have developed a technology-based solution – Water Monitor. Implemented across all Colive properties, it comes with smart sensors to tackle water wastage.

9.Information about Colive, how many people work with you? Nature and domain of clients? Founded in year? Founded by? Location? Current CEO? Website?

Founded in 2016 by Suresh Rangarajan K (SRK), Colive is a technology-driven platform offering quality yet affordable co-living spaces. We provide fully-amenitized living spaces that come equipped with modern facilities like a tech-enabled security system, service, and maintenance features and support. We primarily cater to students, young working professionals and DINK (Dual-Income-No-Kids) couples.

SRK is the Founder and CEO of Colive. Website: https://www.colive.in/

10.What should an organisation possess to make you want to collaborate with them? What at are you looking in them?

We are open to collaborating with any organization that shares our core values of integrity, transparency and inclusivity. In addition to this, the organization must add some value to our business.

11.What kind of an idea will make you want to pursue and collaborate with?

Building smart, sustainable homes is something we would like to pursue. Given the rapid urbanization and depletion of natural resources, there is an urgent to create more co-living spaces.

12.What would you say is mission of your organisation?

At Colive, it’s our constant endeavour to make quality accommodation accessible to all. Our mission is to provide students and young working professionals with an end-to-end housing solution.

13.What are your greatest achievements till date and what are you set out to achieve?

14.What is secret behind building a successful customer base?

I believe being transparent is the key to building a successful customer base. The focus should be on creating a meaning relationship with consumers and providing them with a valuable experience.

15.What is the work culture like at Colive and how did you establish it?

16. How did you come up with name of you company? Any whimsy our readers should know?

The idea was to create a name that is only catchy, but also conveys something meaningful related to our business. While we did consider a few other options, we zeroed in on the name Colive. It’s easy to spell out and has become synonymous to co-living in India.

17. What is at the core values of Colive? d

At Colive, our core values are integrity, transparency and inclusivity.