WeWork India — the global platform that provides collaborative workplace solutions — will receive $100-million financing from WeWork Global to help boost sustainable growth. The financing by WeWork Global reiterates the company’s focus on India as a strategic market.
The pandemic has accelerated the shift to flexible workspaces, with businesses of all sizes looking to manage cash-flows effectively by moving costs to a variable model. Space as a service is a huge opportunity for them to free up cash, and WeWork has the right foundations and experience to provide safe, flexible workspaces, the company said in a press statement.
In line with its belief that the future of work will be centred around flexible workspaces, a shift accelerated by the pandemic, WeWork India is looking to navigate this transformation by prioritising focused growth in the Indian market over the next 36 months. WeWork India is already profitable and plays an important role in the global scheme of business for WeWork. The WeWork India business will be focussing on showcasing their strengths through its extensive network of partners and vendors in the market.
“The flexible workspace industry in India and around the world is facing its biggest challenge yet. In that, we see a new opportunity that suits our members’ evolving needs. This is driven by an acceleration towards variable real estate costs, the confidence of safe and well-managed workspaces for their employees, and the growth opportunities that are intrinsic to the WeWork community. The fresh round of capital from our long-term partners at WeWork global represents a vote of confidence in our strategy and will help us serve our community better," Karan Virwani, CEO, WeWork India, said.
"WeWork India’s financial performance has shown consistent growth, and with the fundamentals in place at a building level backed by the expertise of the Embassy Group, we believe the WeWork India business has the ability to be our growth vehicle and provide our members an exceptional experience," Sandeep Mathrani, CEO of WeWork, said.
WeWork entered into a partnership with Embassy Group - an integrated real estate developer in 2017 and started operations in the Indian market. Embassy Group currently holds 100 per cent rights over WeWork India, which is an independent entity with the right to execute WeCo’s business in the country. Since entering India, WeWork has been providing full service and innovative workspaces with over 60,000 desks in 34 locations, across six cities where businesses of all sizes can choose from a range of unique product offerings.