Wework starts new coworking centre in Pune with 1,500 seating capacity

Coworking major WeWork India has started a new centre in Pune with 1,500 desks and 96,000 square feet area amid rising demand for flexible office space from corporates.

The new facility is located at Raheja Woods IT Tower developed by K Raheja Corp.

"This is an asset-light deal, and the company has leased the entire building comprising five floors in this Kalyani Nagar property, spread across a deskspace of 1,500," WeWork said in a statement.

This is the company's third facility in Pune.

Arnav S Gusain, Chief Supply Officer, WeWork India, said, "Pune has offered quality real estate over the years, leading to its emergence as one of the strongest and ideal cities for companies to set up their offices. Spaces such as WeWork India allow companies to plug-and-play within their budget instead of wrestling with office layouts and fit-outs".

The company would continue expanding its footprint further, he added.

WeWork India has a portfolio of over 6.5 million square feet area across 44 locations in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune and Hyderabad.

The company's client portfolio comprises 70 per cent enterprises, while 30 per cent includes startups, freelancers, and SMEs.

In 2017, WeWork Global partnered with Bengaluru-based real estate firm Embassy Group to enter the Indian market.

WeWork India had in December raised Rs 550 crore from funds managed by BPEA Credit for future growth and acquisition opportunities. The amount will be used for future growth and potential consolidation opportunities.

In 2020, WeWork India raised Rs 750 crore from WeWork Global.

WeWork Global has around 27 per cent stake in WeWork India.

WeWork India CEO Karan Virwani had earlier said, "Our revenue for this calendar year is estimated to grow to about Rs 1,300 crore. The revenue was Rs 760 crore in 2021".

The company is not only EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) positive but also generating free cash flow to expand the business and sustain the growth momentum, he said.

On the expansion, Virwani had said the portfolio would reach 6.5 million square feet by March and 8 million square feet by December 2023.

"In terms of desks, we will reach around 1 lakh by end of the next calendar year," he had said. The company is looking at entering Delhi.

Realty consultant Vestian in its recent report mentioned that 'flexible workspace' or 'flexible space' is a term used to cover a broad category of shared office space options that include co-working space centres, private offices, hot desks, executive suites, serviced centres, and managed offices.

Co-working centres are at the most flexible end of the spectrum, while managed offices would be at the less flexible end, it said.