Mind Behind The Successful Startup 'Zostel'- Dharamveer Singh Chauhan

We come across many inspiring stories that inspire us to follow our passion and follow the path where our heart is. The trend in the country changes every hour and it is very necessary to adapt yourself to these changes. To be competent enough, your ideas should be out of the box.

This is the story of a gamer turned entrepreneur. Yes! you read that right. Behind a successful mind is a genius brain, but behind Zostel was a very passionate gamer.

Zostel And Its Story

One thing that is common in entrepreneurs is the urge to do something more than just being a corporate slave. This is the classic story of an IIT graduate who was not happy with his engineering degree and wanted more value in life.

While he was searching for a job, he got an internship in Germany. To manage his pocket, he used to stay in affordable hostels. These were cheap, clean and suited his budget very well.

Launching Of Zostel

Dharamveer being an avid gamer tried his luck and won $10,000. This amount helped the startup enthusiasts to come up with a team and build up the idea of Zostel. On 15 August 2013, Dharam Veer with a confident team of 6 men launched Zostel- India's First and largest Budget Backpacking hostels.

Travelling is all about sharing experiences and learn from each other. The friendly environment at dormitories made interaction between different travellers possible.

The Zostel gave the much-required change to India.

First Zostel

However, the money was not enough for their business expansion and decided to look for big investments for the expansion of Zostel to other parts of the country.

Funding

The potential graduates took part in business competitions that would give them a platform and investment. They went to different competitions held at IIT Bombay, Ivey School of Business, Canada and the B-Plan contest held at Wharton India Economic Forum.

Their efforts were acknowledged by a Malaysian based banker named Presha Paragash. He gave a seed investment of $1 million (5 crores)

Growth

In the past two years, Zostel has expanded itself to many cities like Jodhpur, Delhi, Udaipur, Jaipur, and Varanasi. It is also aiming to reach Thailand and Sri Lanka in 2020. This was not the end, the rented apartments in metro cities were still falling out of budget for many students.

Surely they have come a long way and created a history. This story has inspired many young minds to follow their hearts and live their dream because Dreams do come true!