Collaborative coworking space provider Awfis has raised $20 Mn from Sequoia India.
Commenting on the investment Amit Ramani – Founder & CEO, Awfis said, “We have seen a huge demand in the market for coworking spaces and have created a shared economy platform that leverages technology. Awfis is transforming underutilised real estate assets and providing an affordable and exciting new age work environment for today’s entrepreneur. We believe that this will facilitate a change in preference of the conventional office user from traditional offices to new age coworking spaces.”
The startup plans to use the funds to grow its network of centers, launch new products/services and further enhance the existing technology platform. The company is planning to establish 100+ centers with 35,000+ seats across Mumbai, NCR, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Pune in the next 24 months.
Awfis was founded by Amit Ramani in 2015, with strategic backing from The Three Sisters: Institutional Office (TTS:IO). TTS:IO was established in 2012 for promoting new age entrepreneurship.
Awfis offers customers the facility to book workplaces for a period, ranging from an hour to eleven months. It can be done through their mobile app – available on Android and iOS platform. Apart from its own managed pro-working spaces, Awfis also offers a repository of third-party meeting rooms in hotel brands like Lemon Tree Hotels, Hyatt, and Trident, amongst others, across India.
As per a company statement, the startup currently has a network of over 7,500+ seats across 21 centres in eight cities in India. It currently comprises a community of over 5,000 Awfis members – including entrepreneurs, SMEs, freelancers and business corporates. The startup currently has a team of about 130+ professionals.
Click here to refer to the list of ‘Top 60 Startup Coworking Spaces In India’
Coworking spaces – a more evolved concept in the west, are now a popular trend in the Indian startup community. In January 2017, business centre and coworking space provider InstaOffice, raised an undisclosed amount of Pre-Series A funding led by Globevestor. In February, Delhi-based coworking office space provider Innov8 raised an undisclosed amount of angel funding. Other coworking spaces in India include 91springboard, BHIVE Workspace, among others.
