US-based co-working operator WeWork will add four new centres, comprising over 7,000 seats, in Gurugram by the end of this year and is also looking at entering Noida as part of its expansion plan in the Delhi-NCR market, a top company official said.
At present, the company has one centre in Gurugram with 1,400 seats.
"We are opening 4 new centres in Gurugram this year, taking the total capacity to over 8,000 desks in this city," WeWork India head Karan Virwani told PTI.
He said the company plans to expand in the Noida market and is scouting for a workplace in a good location.
Virwani said the company currently has 12 centres operational with 18,000 desks in Bengaluru, Mumbai and Gurugram. It is opening three more centres soon, one each in three cities, having 4,000 desks, taking the total number of seats to 22,000 in November.
He said the company has already tied up about 3 million sq ft office space since July last year and plans to double it over the next one year.
On fund raising, Virwani said the company plans to raise funds next year for expansion but did not disclose the amount.
Asked about the company's revenue, he said all of WeWork's centres in India are profitable. "We reach break-even level with 60 per cent occupancy in any centre," he added.
Virwani said there is a growing demand for co-working space from startups, entrepreneurs and corporates from India and overseas.
By driving innovation and collaboration, he said WeWork India will continue its growth trajectory in changing the face of collaborative spaces in the country.
Asked about cost per seat, Virwani said the company offers desks starting from Rs 7,000 and up to Rs 40,000 per month depending on the locations and facilities. "The average price per desk is about Rs 18,000."
Co-working segment has gained momentum in India since the last few years. Apart from WeWork, there are a number of players, including Regus, CoWrks, Smartworks, Awfis, GoWork, 91 Springboard, Skootr, Innov8, IndiQube and Creator's Gurukul.
These co-working operators are taking on lease office spaces from real estate developers for their expansion.
WeWork is a platform for creators, providing over 2,68,000 members around the world with space, community, and services through both physical and virtual offerings.
It has more than 287 physical locations in 77 cities and 23 countries around the world.
Founded in 2010 by Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey in New York, the company now employs more than 3,000 globally.
Over 43,000 companies and more than 2,68,000 members are now based at WeWork, with member companies ranging from startups to household names, including Dell, KPMG, GE, Microsoft, Discovery, and Samsung.
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