The Indian hospitality chain India Hostels Pvt Ltd, operating under the Moustache brand and based in Jaipur, has tasked the consulting firm PwC with raising funds amounting to 30–35 crore rupees over the next four to five months. These funds are intended to finance the company's expansion plans, which also aim for a listing on the market after 2030.
The consulting firm has already begun preparing an investor memorandum and financial documentation for this round. Co-founders Abhishek Handewal and Dipak Agarwal told Business Standard that the company plans to start a roadshow within the next one to two months. Initially, the company will approach family offices, and institutional investors will only be approached after demonstrating stronger revenue growth.
Handewal emphasized that a listing is the logical next step as it will provide an exit for these investors. He added: 'We will start approaching investors in a month or two. First, we will approach family offices, and then institutional investors.'
The company is currently negotiating approximately 15 new real estate projects and hopes to close four to five of them before approaching the market. Founded in 2016 by Handewal and Agarwal, both certified accountants who returned to India after working in international corporations, Moustache has transformed into a mid-segment boutique hotel chain with the launch of Moustache Select in 2025 and the luxury segment Moustache Luxuria in 2021.
Currently, the chain manages 19 hostels, 10 Select properties, and six Luxuria properties, aiming to reach nearly 100 properties by the end of next year and 200 by 2030.
Strategic shift in revenue structure
The planned expansion is accompanied by a strategic change in the revenue structure. Hostels, which currently generate about 30 percent of revenue, are expected to reduce their share to 5–10 percent by 2030, even though the company will continue to manage them primarily through franchise agreements in smaller towns. The Select segment, launched only last year but already accounting for 40 percent of revenue, is projected to be the main growth driver, increasing to approximately 60 percent of total revenue by 2030, with Luxuria covering the remainder.
Agarwal noted that the focus is shifting to the Luxuria and Select segments. He pointed out that the annual revenue of a hostel does not exceed 2.5–3 crore rupees, whereas a Select property can already generate 6–8 crore rupees and is expected to reach 10–15 crore rupees as the portfolio matures.
The company completed fiscal year 26 with revenue of about 38–39 crore rupees and expects to roughly double this figure to 75 crore rupees in fiscal year 27 due to the opening of new properties during the year. The company's goal is to achieve revenues of 700–800 crore rupees by 2030.
The average revenue per available room (RevPAR), which is currently 6,000–7,000 rupees across all formats—from 2,000–3,000 rupees for hostels to 15,000–25,000 rupees for Luxuria—should exceed 10,000 rupees as the emphasis shifts towards higher-end formats.
Parallel to capital raising, Moustache is implementing its own technology to automate guest interaction processes such as payment collection, check-in and check-out registration, and document collection, while maintaining human contact for the core hospitality operations. An early prototype is expected to be ready by December.
Handewal stated that this initiative aims to reduce costs associated with on-site staffing in roles such as reception staff, general managers, assistant general managers, and storekeepers by up to 80 percent in some expense categories, even with an absolute increase in the number of properties and employees. The company currently employs 480–500 people. The staff-to-property ratio is expected to decrease significantly after the implementation of automation, although the total number of employees will continue to grow due to company expansion and increased property count.
