Moving to another city for education not only involves finding a good college and coaching classes, but also making arrangements for food, stay and other housing related amenities. While many colleges do offer hostel facilities for students, they are often on first come, first served basis. OxfordCaps founded by Annu Talreja, CEO and Priyanka Gera, COO, in 2017 claims to be Asia’s first branded and tech-enabled student housing company providing a full-stack service model for millennials.
The student residences have been designed to provide a great living environment which is hassle-free, including all kinds of basic and premium amenities such as well-furnished rooms, reading areas, Wi-Fi services, security provisions, transport facilities and nutritious meals.
Talreja says that the idea of creating a branded chain of student accommodation germinated when they themselves were students. But it was only when they worked with corporate giants such as JLL and Marriott Group that they could develop a more definite and structured approach to solving a problem that plagues over 100 million students across Asia. The projects and services are standardised within the Oxfordcaps brand services guidelines, providing a transparent, hassle-free and safe alternative to a market dominated largely by the unorganised PG (paying guest) segment till date.
They operate via three sub-brands and cater to students across price segments including Oxfordcaps Premium Residences, Oxfordcaps Student Residences and Oxfordcaps Dorms for the budget segment.
Gera says that Oxfordcaps was founded keeping in mind the Gen Z students who travel to a new city for studies. “The largely fragmented, non-standardised student accommodation — PGs and poorly managed hostels — has left a huge gap for the right product for this segment. Moreover, lack of price transparency, reliability and complete lack of tech enablement of processes is a strong reason for our existence,” she says.
Student housing has never been looked at from the lens of design thinking and technology at the core of the experience. “The market size is estimated to be INR 1500 crore with more than 10.4 million students across India migrating to cities every year to pursue their academic dreams. But student housing today suffers from a high level of fragmentation, lack of quality solutions, price transparency, reliability and complete lack of tech enablement of processes,” says Gera, adding that Oxfordcaps is addressing this gap.
When asked what sets Oxfordcaps apart from the other co-living spaces and hostels, the founders point out that they bring an international experience in managing student housing. “Our experience has equipped us in designing spaces that meet international standards. Our focus on community building with regular events and engagements is highly appreciated and has special affinity among students,” says Talreja.
She also points out that their need for community building is deeply rooted and is also reflected in the way they include community spaces in the designs. Young working professionals and students hate being at the mercy of landlords and agents and most often have to cut back on a certain quality of life at PGs or hostels. While co-living spaces are becoming extremely popular with working professionals, when it comes to students, parents are concerned about the quality of food their kids are subjected to when they need to move out of home. “With Gen Z at the core of our business, the company is also investing heavily in technology, particularly focusing on IoT and deep learning architectures to provide a customised and engaging living experience for students,” adds Talreja.
Talking about the facilities at Oxfordcaps, Gera says that the students can just pick the rooms they would prefer based on their price segments, and move in. The residences are equipped with Wi-Fi, laundry, nutritious meals, professional housekeeping and an array of events and activities focused on career development and lifestyle for the students.
Interested students can directly reach out to them through the toll free numbers on their website or directly visit an Oxfordcaps residence for admission. Students have to enroll by paying the rent and providing a valid government ID proof and their college admission letter to join.
