Deskimo Isn’t Competing With The WeWorks Of The World

Deskimo is aiming to make its coworking offerings a direct competitor to Starbucks and other casual meeting spaces, rather than major industry operators such as WeWork.

The company services people who mostly work from home, but need the occasional space to meet with people or get away from distractions. Deskimo partners with employers and is able to charge them by the time each of their workers spends at the space, rather than a monthly subscription-like model.

The company was founded by  Raphael Cohen, former head of Rocket Internet Asia, and Christian Mischler, cofounder of food delivery service Foodpanda.

“Back in 2012, people were saying that food ordering is not going to work online, people just order on the phone or in person,” said Cohen. “What we learned from on-demand restaurant delivery, the shared market-based model, is very similar in that case to setting up with workspace partners.”

The company works with various property owners and prioritizes them in order, with the first being office spaces that are already configured for coworking, the second being hotels that have converted areas into coworking spaces and the last being social clubs and event venues.

Currently, Deskimo has around 50 properties in Singapore, as well as 40 in Hong Kong. Moving forward, it hopes to expand its services into both residential and business districts to accommodate people who want a meeting or workspace closer to their homes.