wework

What has led to the growth and acceleration of coworking spaces in India?
India is emerging as one of the world’s most preferred markets to invest in, owing to its thriving economy, growing startup ecosystem and ever-widening talent pool. India has somewhere between 7,200 and 7,700 startups, of which 1,200 are tech startups, making India the third largest startup ecosystem (as per a Nasscom-Zinnov report). We have a diverse set of startups. The composition largely reflects the overall startup ecosystem with forward thinking companies using technology to address concerns in finance, healthcare, food to business services and consumer products.

On the other hand, with a traditional office space, business owners need to deal with landlords, contractors, brokers, security deposits, lock-in periods, etc, which can be time-consuming as well as financially and mentally draining. Due to these issues, SMEs and startups end up spending more time to figure out the right environment or support in terms of logistics, infrastructure, and technology rather than focusing on their core business. India is witnessing a mass urban migration, and the concerning issue is that our cities are not built to accommodate this sudden rush. Coworking spaces aim to solve this issue by providing collaborative work solutions and equipping people to utilise more in lesser space.

How does WeWork India improvise workspace facilities for clients?
Apart from the global reach, as a collaborative workspace provider, our aim is to always strike a human connect through all the initiatives that we undertake for our members. For instance, our TGIM (Thank God it’s Monday) initiative has been a part of our culture since the beginning. We offer complimentary breakfast on Mondays to members, which consists of a specialised menu each week to chase those blues. Wellness Wednesday is an initiative, where we organise fitness activities every week from Salsa to Yoga, Pilates to Zumba, meant both for working out and connecting with fellow members. Our community team is always coming up with varied events for members that range from panel discussions, workshops, seminars to pop-ups by lifestyle brands. The idea is to indulge our members’ passions at work and help them meet like-minded people.

What is your current mix of occupancy?
The idea of an open, communicative, barrier-less office culture is finally catching up across all boards. About 52% of our member base constitutes large companies and enterprises. What’s remarkable about WeWork’s growth story in India is that unlike the rest of the world, where we see a member mix of 30% large enterprises and 70% small and medium companies, India has a healthy mix of each. Our portfolio consists of some of the largest companies in the Fortune 500 as members globally, including Delta, IBM, KMPG, GE, Samsung, Dropbox, Silicon Valley Bank and Merck. In India, our members include GoDaddy, Discovery India, Jaguar Land Rover, Knowlarity and Twitter, among others.

What are your key challenges?
One of the biggest challenge at present is fighting the idea that coworking spaces are only meant for freelancers and small startups. The truth is coworking spaces are open to people from all walks of life. The highly fragmented state of the sector also poses a challenge. Coworking spaces are mushrooming by the day and are willing to offer spaces and amenities at much lower rates that often becomes a hurdle for leading market players.