With Snapdeal tie, Awfis eyes more startups for its coworking space

After SoftBank backed e-commerce major Snapdeal booked a complete floor, with a capacity of about 90 seats, Awfis expects more startups to follow suit.

Soon, the Andheri West centre facility of coworking hub Awfis might be the next stop for startups.

After SoftBank backed e-commerce major Snapdeal booked a complete floor, with a capacity of about 90 seats, Awfis expects more startups to follow suit. (Awfis Space Solutions)

After SoftBank backed e-commerce major Snapdeal booked a complete floor, with a capacity of about 90 seats, Awfis expects more startups to follow suit.

“This relationship (with Snapdeal) will increase our ability to attract new age businesses to our pro-working spaces and will have a positive impact on our business,” says Amit Ramani, CEO, Awfis Space Solutions.

Coworking spaces are shared office spaces wherein individuals or companies can rent desks for a day, weeks or months, depending on the requirement. As per Tracxn, a startup data tracking firm, there are 61 co-working spaces in India of which 16 were set up in 2016.

Explaining the rationale behind moving into a coworking space, Saurabh Nigam, vice president - human resources, Snapdeal said: “The office is located centrally in Mumbai and provides easy access to public transport, including to Mumbai Metro - important considerations to make the office commute easier for our Mumbai team. Being part of a larger facility will also provide us access to shared facilities like parking, security and cafeteria.”

However, Snapdeal refrained from commenting on their operational and real estate savings as they move into a coworking set up.

Without giving any details on their deal with Snapdeal, Ramani said: “If a company sets up their own office for 50 persons, they will end up paying 30% higher than Awfis and if they set up office for 50 persons to 90 persons, they will be paying 20% higher than Awfis. Also, unlike conventional leases, Awfis agreements come without security deposit and draconian lock -in periods offering complete tenure flexibility.”

The Andheri Wast facility of Awfis comprise of two floors with 255 seats, four meeting rooms, one meeting lounge, break-out zones and collaboration zone housing companies including media companies Big Synergy and Trilogic Digital Media; ChompFoods, a food and beverage company; Dion Global, IT company; PL International, a construction company; Dreams Univision Interactive Pvt Ltd, an entertainment company and Offing Group, a shipping firm.

With 12 centres across India, over 2,600 desks and 2,300 active members, it is one of the largest coworking hubs. 20% of companies working out of Awfis Space Solutions are traditional companies.

“Established companies are lately choosing work-near-home over work-from-home which is a key benefit for employees to reduce their commute time significantly,” Ramani said.