Pankaj Parwanda on hostel startup

Pankaj Parwanda used a May 16 post on X to describe how he and his team started a hostel business in Varanasi 11 years earlier: by opening the property and improving it day by day. The account matches the broader origin story Parwanda has given in interviews about goSTOPS, the youth hostel chain he co-founded with Pallavi Agarwal in 2014. In those interviews, Parwanda has said the business grew out of a 2012 backpacking trip in Europe and an early decision to test the model in Varanasi rather than wait for a finished playbook. Investor material from Blume Ventures and a March interview with CNBC-TV18 say goSTOPS now operates in more than 30 destinations and is using new funding to expand further. ### What exactly did Parwanda say in the May 16 post? May 16 was the date Parwanda said he was looking back on the company’s start in Varanasi 11 years earlier. According to the details provided for the post, he said there was no “fancy setup” or playbook and that the team learned by doing, with the central lesson being to open first and iterate every day. The X post itself could be opened, but the tool did not return the text or engagement data directly. (blume.vc) Reuters-style verification from other sources supports the substance of the claim: Parwanda has repeatedly described the company’s early phase as an experiment built in the market rather than from a detailed operating manual. ### Why does Varanasi matter in the company’s origin story? Varanasi was the city where the first hostel was launched, according to Parwanda’s later interviews. In a 2025 conversation reported by Manifest Media, he said Pallavi Agarwal quit her job, went to Varanasi and launched the first hostel after the pair saw hostel culture firsthand during a 2012 Europe trip. (x.com) That account lines up with the timeline in Blume Ventures’ company profile, which says goSTOPS was co-founded by Agarwal and Parwanda in 2014. The Varanasi location is central because it was the first operating test of whether an Indian youth hostel could work with local travelers as well as foreign backpackers. ### What was the “learn by doing” model in practice? Parwanda said in the later interview that the company had to adapt a European hostel idea to Indian travel habits. (manifest-media.in) He said Indian travelers typically take shorter trips, often travel in mixed-gender groups, and expect services such as housekeeping, cafes and app-based convenience. (blume.vc) The March 2025 CNBC-TV18 interview gives a more operational version of that approach. Parwanda said goSTOPS typically takes 20- to 50-room hotels and converts them into hostels in about 30 to 45 days, a model he described as fast and scalable. He also said the company was EBITDA positive at the company level when discussing how it would use fresh capital. (manifest-media.in) ### How big has goSTOPS become since that first hostel? Blume Ventures’ profile says goSTOPS has a presence in more than 30 destinations and over 2,500 beds. The investor describes the company as a full-stack youth hostel brand that leases, manages and franchises real estate assets and turns them into design-led hostels for younger travelers. CNBC-TV18 reported on March 17, 2025, that goSTOPS had raised $4.2 million in Series A funding led by Blume Ventures and co-led by 1Crowd, with existing investors including Mumbai Angels, Chennai Angels, Indian Angel Network, Lead Angels and Yuj Ventures also participating. (cnbctv18.com) In that interview, Parwanda said the company planned to grow from 30 hostels to 100 over the next two years and from 2,500 beds to about 10,000 beds. (blume.vc) ### Can the post’s engagement numbers be confirmed? The May 16 post was provided with a claim that it showed 104 likes and originated from Varanasi. The X page was reachable, but the tool did not surface the visible text or the engagement count, so that number could not be independently confirmed from the page output used here. June 2024 changes on X made likes more private while leaving like counts visible on posts, according to reports by NBC News and Al Jazeera. (cnbctv18.com) That means a visible count can exist even when the identities behind those likes are not public. May 18 is the latest point at which the post could still be located on X through the supplied link. The next concrete milestone in the broader story is goSTOPS’ stated expansion target: Parwanda told CNBC-TV18 in March 2025 that the company aimed to reach 100 hostels within two years, using Series A funding for capex and property expansion. (x.com) (nbcnews.com)