While India’s coworking space market is offering more feasible office options for the country’s booming startups, it is also allowing foreign coworking players to take a chunk out of the market.
The State of the Startup Ecosystem Report found that India hosts 300 coworking spaces, totaling 720 centers across 15 million square feet of space. Some of these are ran by major players, such as WeWork and Awfis.
Yogesh Arora, director and cofounder at AltF CoWorking, said that large competitors have made a big impact in the market, but local players dominate the mid-range segment.
Despite overseas coworking operators offering deluxe facilities that cater to well-funded startups, small coworking firms have been able to offer smaller spaces at much lower prices to attract early-stage startups that need less workspace amenities. Operators like Ideashacks Coworking give entrepreneurs an innovative workplace solution other than their homes or a coffee shop.
Founders of coworking spaces say that these shared offices were always meant to be a hub for growing startups, but the model has been misinterpreted over the years. Now, the world recognizes how valuable the startup industry is and has since transformed the coworking sector.
Many coworking operators believe that encouraging interactions among members and prioritizing wellbeing through various events allow workers to become more productive.
Still, coworking space still face major challenges including finding the right locations and prices that meet an area’s demands.
Although massive coworking firms could come off as a threat, many smaller operators see it as encouragement and a way to meet the demands of international clients.
Moving forward, technological advancements will begin to play a bigger role in coworking spaces with video calling, messaging, task management software and more.
Coworking consumption in India will continue to climb and is expected to grow an additional 7 to 9 million square feet by 2020.
