LiveIn

About LiveIn

LiveIn is a proptech company that has evolved from a student accommodation marketplace into a provider of long-term rental solutions and co-living spaces in Southeast Asia. The company originated as HostelHunting.com in 2015, founded by Keek Wen Khai, Joey Lim, Loke Weng Leong, and Marcus Low. The founders' journey began from their own experiences as students and later as hostel operators, where they identified significant challenges in finding suitable accommodations and managing bookings efficiently. This firsthand knowledge of the market's fragmentation and the manual, often overwhelming, booking processes inspired the creation of an online platform to streamline the rental experience for both students and property owners.

Initially launched as an asset-light marketplace for student housing in Malaysia, HostelHunting aggregated property listings, allowing students to search for rooms near their universities and connect with landlords. The platform quickly gained traction, expanding its listings significantly and securing seed funding in late 2015 to fuel team growth and regional expansion into Singapore and Thailand. Over the years, the company shifted its model. It rebranded to LiveIn in 2019 to reflect a broader focus on long-stay rentals and co-living for the wider youth market, not just students. This transition involved moving towards an online-to-offline (O2O) managed platform, where LiveIn takes a more active role in property management. The company transforms existing properties into fully furnished co-living spaces complete with amenities like Wi-Fi, cleaning services, maintenance, and community events.

LiveIn's business model generates revenue through monthly rental plans paid by tenants. For property owners, the company offers end-to-end management services, aiming to increase their rental income and ensure high occupancy rates, which have impressively averaged 90% in Malaysia and Thailand. The firm's target clients are young urban residents, including students and professionals, who seek affordable and quality furnished housing. Significant milestones include raising over $13.2 million across several funding rounds, with notable investments from firms like Wavemaker Partners, Jungle Ventures, and InterVest. A key strategic move was the acquisition of KoolKost, RedDoorz's rental brand in Indonesia, in early 2025, signaling aggressive expansion. However, in mid-2025, the company announced it was ceasing its Malaysian operations due to a severe cash flow crisis attributed to financial mismanagement by a former executive.