Co-founded by SLP Fellow  Pankhuri Shrivastava, Bengaluru based Grabhouse has raised $10 million from existing investors Sequoia and Kalaari Capital. The accommodation listing startup was founded in 2013, and currently adds more than 2,000 properties daily. Grabhouse, which is just about 300 people strong, plans to launch a new line of offering in the PG and Apartment categories. Motivated by their experiences, Shrivastava and Shukla founded Grabhouse with a vision to accept listings directly from property owners, who aren’t charged unless they close a rental through Grabhouse.

"We feel that accommodation discovery is 10% of the work. Our key differentiator has been and will always be our technology-led approach targeted towards making this online experience hasslefree," said Pankhuri, in a recent interview.  She adds that the listings on many other real estate sites are provided by brokers. Grabhouse, on the other hand, takes a zero-tolerance approach to real estate agents, which the company claims protects owners and prospective tenants and saves them money.

Since there aren’t formal oversights for brokers in India, they vary widely in helpfulness. Shrivastava says brokers often act as “gatekeepers” to property information, charging large fees—about 8.3% of annual rent in some cases—solely for access to landlord contact information.

Read more about Grabhouse's recent funding here, and visit Grabhouse here.