Moustache is preparing to raise ₹30-35 crore from family offices as the Jaipur-headquartered hospitality chain accelerates its move towards nearly 100 properties by the end of next year. The fundraise is not only a financing event. It also marks a change in the company’s operating model: from a business built substantially around hostels to one driven increasingly by mid-tier boutique and luxury accommodation.
The company, operated by India Hostels Pvt Ltd, has mandated PwC to prepare the information memorandum and financial documents for the proposed round. Cofounders Abhishek Khandelwal and Deepak Agarwal told Business Standard that investor roadshows could begin within the next month or two, with family offices being approached before institutional investors. The company is also working towards a possible market listing after 2030.
That sequence reveals the scale and timing of the ambition. Moustache is not seeking capital merely to add a handful of rooms. It is trying to build a multi-format hospitality platform whose property count, revenue mix and technology systems can support a much larger operating footprint. The company currently runs 19 hostels, 10 Moustache Select properties and six Moustache Luxuria properties. It is targeting nearly 100 properties by the end of next year and 200 by 2030.
The immediate expansion pipeline consists of roughly 15 property proposals, of which the company hopes to close four or five before approaching the market. The report does not establish how these properties will be acquired, leased, developed or converted, but the proposed expansion would require the company to manage a substantially larger network of hospitality assets across different formats and locations.
That distinction matters because the three formats generate very different levels of revenue. Hostels currently contribute about 30 per cent of Moustache’s revenue, while Select accounts for around 40 per cent despite having been launched only last year. Luxuria, the company’s luxury vertical launched in 2021, makes up the balance. By 2030, Moustache expects hostels to account for only 5-10 per cent of revenue, with Select contributing around 60 per cent and Luxuria providing most of the remainder.
The shift reflects a move towards properties with higher revenue potential per asset. According to the company, a hostel generates annual revenue of about ₹2.5-3 crore, while a Select property currently generates ₹6-8 crore and could reach ₹10-15 crore as its portfolio matures. The figures indicate why the company is prioritising Select and Luxuria even as it continues to operate hostels, largely through franchise arrangements in smaller towns.
The strategy therefore combines two different approaches to scale. Hostels can provide a relatively asset-light route into smaller markets through franchising, while Select and Luxuria properties are expected to deliver stronger revenue from each location. The supplied report does not specify the ownership or investment structure for the proposed properties, so it is not possible to determine how much capital expenditure the expansion will require or how much operational risk will remain with Moustache and its partners.
The company’s revenue targets are correspondingly ambitious. It closed financial year 2025-26 with revenue of about ₹38-39 crore and expects to roughly double that to ₹75 crore in FY27 as new properties open. By 2030, it is targeting revenue of ₹700-800 crore. Reaching that figure would require the company to expand both the number of properties and the average earning capacity of its portfolio.
The projected revenue mix suggests that property count alone is not the central measure of the plan. A larger network of low-revenue hostels would not produce the same result as a smaller or comparable network weighted towards Select and Luxuria. Moustache’s expansion is consequently tied to its ability to identify locations, secure suitable properties, standardise operations and build demand for formats positioned above its original hostel base.
Revenue per available room, or RevPAR, provides another indication of that change. Moustache’s average RevPAR currently ranges from about ₹6,000 to ₹7,000 across formats. Hostels generate roughly ₹2,000-3,000, while Luxuria properties generate approximately ₹15,000-25,000. The company expects average RevPAR to cross ₹10,000 as the portfolio shifts towards higher-end formats.
These numbers are company projections and reported operating figures, not an independent assessment of market performance. They nevertheless show the internal logic of the expansion plan. The proposed fundraise is intended to support a portfolio transition in which the value of each property becomes more important than the simple addition of rooms or locations.
That transition also changes the operational requirements of the business. Moustache is developing in-house technology to automate payments, check-in, check-out and document collection. An early prototype is expected by December. The company intends to retain a human interface for hospitality, but it expects automation to reduce headcount-linked costs in some front-desk and property-management categories by as much as 80 per cent.
The plan includes roles such as general managers, assistant general managers and storekeepers in the cost categories affected by automation. Moustache currently employs 480-500 people. The company expects the ratio of staff to properties to fall substantially after the technology is introduced, even as total employee numbers continue to rise because of expansion.
This is an important distinction in understanding the technology strategy. Automation is not being presented as a reduction in the absolute workforce. It is intended to reduce the number of employees required for each property while allowing the overall organisation to grow. If implemented as described, the model could allow Moustache to add properties without increasing staff at the same rate. The supplied information does not establish the technology’s final design, implementation cost, adoption rate or effect on guest experience.
The expansion also raises a broader question about how hospitality companies scale in India’s property market. A chain can grow by owning assets, leasing buildings, managing properties for other owners or franchising its brand. Moustache’s current use of franchise arrangements for hostels in smaller towns indicates that the company is already using more than one operating route. However, the report does not provide a full breakdown of the proposed capital structure or the share of properties under each model.
That missing information is significant because the same headline property count can represent very different levels of financial exposure. A franchised hostel network, a leased Select property and a company-controlled luxury asset would each carry different requirements for capital, staffing, maintenance and revenue assurance. The company’s stated targets can therefore be evaluated fully only when the proposed expansion model and property-level economics become clearer.
The decision to approach family offices before institutional investors also places the current round within a staged growth strategy. The founders said institutional investors would be approached after the company demonstrates stronger revenue traction. A later public listing, which they see as an exit route for investors, is planned after 2030. These statements describe an intended financing path, not a confirmed listing timetable or transaction.
For urban markets, the immediate relevance lies in the type of accommodation infrastructure being expanded. Moustache’s portfolio covers hostels, mid-tier boutique properties and luxury accommodation, with operations spread across different formats and, in the case of hostels, smaller towns. Its growth could therefore connect urban tourism demand with the reuse, management and standardisation of hospitality properties. The supplied material does not identify the locations of the 15 proposals or describe their planning, construction or redevelopment status.
What the evidence confirms is a strategic pivot. Moustache is seeking capital to accelerate property growth, while changing the composition of its portfolio towards Select and Luxuria. It is pairing that shift with a technology programme intended to lower property-level staffing intensity. The company’s targets nearly 100 properties by the end of next year, 200 by 2030 and ₹700-800 crore in revenue by 2030 depend on successfully executing all three elements.
What remains uncertain is equally important: the locations and structure of the proposed properties, the terms of the fundraise, the eventual mix between owned, leased, managed and franchised assets, and whether the projected revenue and RevPAR improvements will materialise. The next milestones are the preparation of the information memorandum, investor roadshows expected within one or two months, the closure of four or five property proposals and the planned December prototype for the company’s operating technology.
