Shared Workspace Provider Smartworks Looks To Raise $40 Mn

Shared workspace provider Smartworks plans to raise $35-40 Mn in, both in debt and equity,  to double its portfolio to 5 Mn sq ft by March next year.

The company is aiming for a two-fold increase in its revenue for the fiscal to INR 320 Cr, managing director Neetish Sarda told PTI. The company with 2.8 Mn sq ft is the second-largest coworking space startup after the multinational WeWork that has around 3 Mn sq ft under it. 

Access to funds from banks and institutions like NBFCs is easy. A lot of private equity investors are also approaching us and we are evaluating them, but we cannot disclose more that at this moment,” he said.

Founded in 2016 by Harsh Binani and Neetish Sarda, the company had generated 10% profit margin on its INR 110 Cr revenue in 2018-19 fiscal year. The company has assured an INR 320 Cr revenue with a profit margin of 20-30% for 2019-20 fiscal year.

Smartworks’ average rental plan across India is about INR10 K a seat. The company has several big clients like Tata Communications, Microsoft, ArcelorMittal, Amazon, Carrier, Otis, Daikin, Lenovo, Bacardi, Swiggy, Rivigo and OLX. It mainly focuses on international clients as they offer a better margin. 

The company currently operates in nine cities such as Hyderabad, Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune, Chennai, Kolkata. The workspace provider also plans to venture into small cities, however, it is not going on a significant scale. Sarda said that the company will be entering the small cities with 20K-40K sq ft sizes. 

The company was also looking to raise the same funding amount last year in September to expand its business to 60K seats by 2020. The competitors of the company include WeWork, Regus, Cowrks, Awfis, OYO Workspace, GoWork, Goodworks, Skootr and several others for providing coworking spaces in India.