Draft:Amberstudent

Amber is a student accommodation booking platform that serves over 2 million students worldwide and helps students find residential accommodation. The company was launched in 2016 in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

Amber differentiates itself from other real estate marketplaces with a narrowed focus on the student housing market, connecting students to global accommodation providers.

The company has established partnerships with universities, property management groups, and study-abroad organizations.

Background
amber, originally known as AmberStudent, was founded in 2016 by Saurabh Goel and Madhur Gujar, alumni of IIT Kharagpur. Saurabh Goel had worked at Housing.com and co-founded Startuptoday, while Madhur Gujar had worked in Axtria consulting and co-founded Doubtbox.com.

The inception of amber stemmed from the founders' recognition of a gap in the student accommodation market, when they witnessed the challenges their friends faced in finding suitable student housing abroad.

In 2017, the company scaled its operations to the top study-abroad destinations, USA, Canada, UK and Australia. In 2021, the company was rebranded as "amber" from AmberStudent.

amber+
In 2022, amber introduced amber+, a new product suite providing additional services for international students. It provides post-accommodation services such as assistance in setting up student bank accounts, loan application support, access to discounted flight tickets, and internship opportunities, among others.

amber App
In September 2023, amber launched its student accommodation app, designed to streamline and personalize the housing search for students.

In February 2024, amber announced a successful funding round, securing USD 21 million (approximately Rs 175 crore). This round was led by Gaja Capital, with participation from Lighthouse Canton and Stride. The Rainmaker Group served as the exclusive financial advisor for this transaction.

Timeline

 * 2016: Launch of student accommodation services.
 * 2017: Expansion to the UK and Australia.
 * 2019: $13 million in gross booking value.
 * 2021: Team expanded to 130+ employees.
 * 2022: 1000% growth in team and operations; $600 million gross booking value with 40% net margin.
 * 2022: Introduction of amber+
 * 2023: Team expanded 600+ employees.
 * 2023: Launch of the amber student accommodation app.
 * 2024: Successful institutional funding round, securing USD 21 million (approximately Rs 175 crore).

Awards

 * High Growth Companies Asia Pacific 2020 by Financial Times.