Awfis looks for more space with Rs 128 crore from Sequoia | The Economic Times

26 April 2017

Awfis looks for more space with Rs 128 crore from Sequoia | The Economic Times

  • Economic Times

Mumbai-based collaborative co-working space rental company, Awfis Space Solutions has raised $20 million (about Rs 128 crore) from Sequoia India and plans to use the funds to expand its network of centres, launch new products and services, and enhance its technology platform.

With this infusion, as part of a Series-B round, the total capital raised by the firm stands at $31 million (about Rs 200 crore).

Awfis counts Radha Kapoor, entrepreneur daughter of YES Bank CEO Rana Kapoor, as one of its earlier investors. In 2015, it raised $11 million (Rs 72 crore) from founder Amit Ramani and The Three Sisters: Institutional Office, the family office led by the daughters of the YES Bank chief. “With this capital raise, we should be able to increase our seat capacity to over 25,000 in 12 months along with 80 centres,“ Awfis CEO Amit Ramani told ET.

Awfis currently operates 21 centres across eight cities with a seat capacity of more than 7,500 and hosts a community of more than 5,000 people from over 500 companies including small and medium enterprises, startups, and corporates opting for shared, ready-to-use work spaces.

The company is targeting an expansion to 35,000 seats and about 100 centres over the next 18-24 months. Investors believe that the concept of shared eco nomy in real estate is a problem that must be solved to ensure unit economics for a business remains paramount.“Awfis is playing on two significant global trends -sha ring economy and communities. This being delivered through a superior user experience at a lower total cost makes it more exciting,“ said Abhay Pandey, managing director at Sequoia Capital India Advisors.

Apart from its own proprietary centres, Awfis has a unique, asset light “managed aggrega tion“ model, partnering as it does with space owners who have unused commercial space and trans forming them into suitable places to work.The two-yearold company also garners revenue by listing and booking third-party spaces. It claims that all centres, which are operational for more than 90 days, are functioning at 90% occupancy.

“We are doubling our seat capacity every six months and will reach 15,000 seats in the next 4-5 months,“ said Ramani.

According to the company, every centre can reach break even with a 45% occupancy level, which has led 19 of its existing 21 centres to profitability.
(This Awfis coverage appeared on The Economic Times on April 26, 2017. You can access the full story here: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/58372382.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst)

Awfis leases over 11k sq ft workspace in Kolkata to 3 large corporates in 6 months

13 October 2022

Awfis leases over 11k sq ft workspace in Kolkata to 3 large corporates in 6 months

  • Posted by Awfis Editorial

Awfis, India’s largest network of coworking spaces has leased over one lakh sq. ft. workspace in Kolkata to 3 large corporates in last 6 months alone.

In line with this partnership, Grant Thornton has taken customized set up in Awfis’ Eco Centre (Awfis Gold centre) at Acropolis Mall in Kolkata. Along with Grant Thornton, Awfis has also partnered with Teleperformance, a global digital integrated business service provider, and Conneqt, a leading digital IT and BPM services provider for over 1000 seats at Godrej Waterside and Technopolis centres respectively. In the past, Awfis has also partnered with electronics giant Samsung for over 500 seats in Kolkata.

Flex players are now taking up spaces in malls and hotels to expand their presence as startups, SMESs and enterprises warm up to the idea of shared facilities over owned premises. Given the above, Awfis is taking the collaborative workspace model to newer spaces like hotels and malls to meet the hybrid workspace demand, which has skyrocketed post-pandemic.

The Awfis environment provides a unique amalgamation of different workstyles while providing the company’s employees with amenities and benefits such as meeting rooms, a well-designed collaboration area, a multi-cuisine restaurant, concierge service along with full hygiene and safety measures.

“We are delighted to have a leading establishment like Grant Thornton as a key client. This valuable partnership is a game-changer for the industry where large corporates have realised the benefits of flexible working and are increasingly shifting from a centralized conventional office to decentralized and distributed flex offices for their workforce,” said Amit Ramani, Founder & CEO, Awfis.

Sumit Lakhani, Deputy CEO, Awfis added, “The trend of using flexible spaces in commercial real estate portfolios of large organizations is witnessing unprecedented growth and will become more prominent in the coming future. The flex space take up from large corporates in Kolkata is a clear reflection of the surge in demand that we are seeing pan India across all metros and tier 2 markets as well. Flex players are now being seen as valuable partners in setting up highly customized, efficient and agile workspaces by companies of all sizes.” he added.

Sanjay Mehta, Executive Director- Workplace Enablement, Grant Thornton Bharat said, “The vibrant tech-enabled environment, provides the right mix of a corporate office ambience combined with new-age elements for collaborative engagements and enhanced innovation. This will help improve our people and client experience.”

Currently, Awfis has 9 centres in Kolkata spread across premier and sought-after locations that include Acropolis Mall, Chowringhee road, Salt Lake, IT Hub in Salt Lake Sector V, and plans to add 2 new centres in the next 3 months.

Awfis Space Solutions currently has the largest network of coworking spaces with 131 centres and 77,500 seats across 14 cities.

This story appeared in the 13 October, 2022 issue of Economic Times and was originally published at: Awfis leases over 11k sq ft workspace in Kolkata to 3 large corporates in 6 months

Flexible space demand rises in step with return to office

03 August 2022

Flexible space demand rises in step with return to office

  • Posted by Awfis Editorial

After a gap of two years, the return-to-office arrangement has gathered momentum, with 74% of the occupiers of office spaces looking toward distributed workspaces as a strategy to shift from location-centric to people-centric work facilities, mentioned a C-Suite Survey conducted by Colliers and Awfis.

The report further mentions that the new work way is expected to enable flexibility for employees while furthering productivity gains for businesses and includes a hybrid way of working wherein employees come into the office a few times a week.

The survey was conducted amongst top CEOs and CXOs across IT/ITes, BFSI and e-commerce sectors, with more than 150 companies participating. It mentions that about 35% of the occupiers have seen a majority (75-100%) of employees return to offices.

“Distributed workspace strategy is the way to go for occupiers in this new era of experiential workplaces, as occupiers emerge from the after-effects of the pandemic,” said Ramesh Nair, Chief Executive Officer, India and Managing Director, Market Development, Asia, Colliers. “Flex spaces, in particular, are leading this growth, as occupiers from varied sectors are housing teams in flex centers across cities.”

This shift in strategy is also reflected in the leasing by flex operators. They leased about 3.5 million sq feet of space in H1 2022 across the top six cities.

This story appeared in the 3 August, 2022 issue of The Economic Times and was originally published at: Flexible space demand rises in step with return to office

Awfis elevates Sumit Lakhani to Deputy CEO

21 July 2022

Awfis elevates Sumit Lakhani to Deputy CEO

  • Posted by Awfis Editorial

Awfis, one of the country’s largest network of coworking spaces has announced the elevation of Sumit Lakhani as Deputy CEO of the company. Previously, Sumit was the chief sales and marketing officer at Awfis and has been a crucial part of the company since it’s inception in 2015.

Lakhani has been instrumental in building the company from the ground up. He’s played a key business role, not limited only to sales and marketing. With his keen interest and acumen in finance and strategy, he has also been in the forefront of delivery, revenue generation and maximizing operational excellence. In his new role, Sumit will be responsible for all facets of the company’s investor relations, FP&A along with the existing responsibility of sales and marketing.

“Awfis and will continue to strive to further enrich the experiences for our existing community and scale towards greater heights. Awfis is redefining the future of work that focuses on creating a flexible, dynamic, and collaborative workplace environment for all its stakeholders and I am delighted to be a part of this journey.” said Lakhani.

Amit Ramani, Founder & CEO, Awfis said, “With his demonstrated ability to balance operational excellence with financial and marketing discipline, Sumit will provide instrumental leadership and direction to Awfis. I am confident Sumit will continue to drive innovation and growth for Awfis in his new role.”

Till date, Lakhani has successfully led various rounds of fund-raise and his zealous commitment to transform Awfis from a coworking network to a complete workplace solution platform.

This story appeared in the 21 July, 2022 issue of The Economic Times and was originally published at: Awfis elevates Sumit Lakhani to Deputy CEO