Inside India's $70 Billion Luxury Travel Boom | Ritwik Khare & Karan Miglani, Elivaas
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Tune in here:
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDEWBV-OSZo
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3p76ReBQ4ZzpbBmFnAcmEa
Summary
They went from three villas to 600 in just over two years — by betting that India’s next major travel brand would look less like a hotel and more like someone’s dream home.
Ritwik Khare and Karan Miglani, co-founders of ELIVAAS, had worked together in travel before building a company at the intersection of hospitality and real estate. They saw a growing market of second-home owners who needed help maintaining, monitoring and monetising their properties — and travellers who wanted the privacy of a villa without sacrificing hotel-level service. ELIVAAS has since grown from three villas to around 600 properties.
In this conversation with Rahul, Ritwik and Karan explain why India’s luxury villa market is larger than it appears, how group travel makes premium stays more affordable, and why customers increasingly choose the property before the destination. They also break down the technology and operational systems required to manage scattered homes consistently, the advantage of building dense micro-markets, and their ambition to make ELIVAAS the Marriott of villas and apartments.
IN THIS EPISODE
00:00 | Teaser
00:45 | Introduction: From Airbnb Host to ELIVAAS Founder
01:29 | Why Focus on Luxury Villas and Apartments?
02:50 | The Genesis: A Personal Problem to Solve
04:00 | Market Size and Growth Potential
05:40 | Changing Travel Behavior: More Frequent Luxury Getaways
07:33 | The 3M Promise: Maintain, Monitor, Monetize
08:35 | Customer Personas: Homeowners and Travelers
10:52 | ELIVAAS vs. Alaya Stays: Two Brand Segments
11:41 | Cross-Sell Services and Enhanced Experiences
13:25 | Evolving Consumer Behavior and Sustainability
15:18 | Surprising Consumer Insights
17:43 | Technology and Operations: The Execution Engine
19:34 | The Power of Micro-Markets
21:18 | Why Choose ELIVAAS Over Airbnb?
22:13 | Competitive Landscape and Early-Mover Advantage
22:47 | International Expansion Strategy
24:40 | Vision for 2035 and Key Risks
About Ritwik Khare
Ritwik Khare is the Founder and CEO of ELIVAAS, a technology-led luxury villa and apartment management company. His experience as a second-home owner helped shape ELIVAAS’ core promise: to maintain, monitor and monetise properties while delivering a consistent luxury experience for travellers.
Ritwik on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ritwikk/
About Karan Miglani
Karan Miglani is the Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer of ELIVAAS. He leads the company’s technology and product systems across homeowners, travellers and on-ground hospitality teams, helping ELIVAAS manage distributed luxury properties at scale.
Karan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karanmiglani/
Rahul Thayyalamkandy
Director of Comms & Community, Vertex Ventures SEA & India
Rahul Thayyalamkandy joined the SEA/India team as the Director of Communication & Community in 2024 and is based in Singapore.
Before joining Vertex, Rahul served as a Product Manager at BLOCK71, an incubator and joint venture of NUS Enterprise and Singtel Innov8, where he developed scalable services for portfolio startups and designed mentorship programs. He also gained experience as a Summer Associate at Cocoon Capital, working with the Managing Partner on investment deals.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahulthayyalamkandy/
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Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India is a pioneer in investing in tech start-ups in this region and has helped to build a number of unicorns. In this podcast, we seek to share and uncover the Hard Truth - raw, unfiltered insights and venture capital knowledge from across Southeast Asia and India. Tune in to learn from leading founders, innovators, venture capitalists, and industry experts in the region and gain industry insights from those in the know.
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