This Co-Working Space Operator Focuses Only on Enterprises Neetish Sarda, founder of Noida-based co-working provider Smartworks, shares how Indian co-working space is evolving

Indian co-working spaces offer various facilities making work fun and confortable.

Smartworks operates co-working spaces that not just gives people a comfortable environment to work in, but also other support activities and facilities such as creche, laundry service, groceries and gyms, among others.

The Noida-headquartered co-working operator was started in 2016 by Neetish Sarda and Harsh Binani.

BIZ Experiences India caught up with Sarda to discuss the Indian co-working space ecosystem and the journey of Smartworks.

Changing the Office Culture Space of India

Sarda says an individual spends 8-10 hours at work every day. The office environment must be supportive in meeting the needs of an individual who is spending a large part of his life in office. He says, "The office needs to be more productive than just being real estate."

Sarda, having visited the offices of the likes of Facebook, LinkedIn and Google, realized that Indian office spaces are far behind. At that time, roughly about three years ago, co-working space as a concept was just scaling up—Delhi-based co-working space Innov8 was already in existence and Silicon Valley-giant WeWork launched Indian arm in 2017 which is now run by Embassy Group's heir Karan Virwani.

Taking a stock of all the things missing in the Indian office culture, essential for the development and productivity of every individual who works, Sarda launched Smartworks.

A Co-working Space for Enterprises

Sarda highlights that co-working spaces are divided into several segments. One is focused on start-ups, the other segment concentrates on SMEs. The third set focuses only on enterprises. While a country like Thailand might be tilted towards start-ups, a country like India is more inclined towards enterprises. Smartworks, though, belongs to the third category.

It targets mainly enterprises and not just SMEs or start-ups. The Noida-based proptech company has big brands in its clientele. Monster.com, Daikin, Microsoft, Amazon, Tata communications, Arcelor Mittal and Otis are some of the big names.

The Evolving Ecosystem

As the market is becoming increasingly crowded, Sarda is unperturbed. He says there is a lot of competition within the co-working space but one needs to look at the segment as well. According to him, the enterprise, as a segment, is still untapped.

Recently, Smartworks raised $25 million in Series A round of funding from the property developer arm of Singapore-based Keppel Corporation.

He says, "The fact that many people are adopting it means that the concept of co-working is here to stay."

Co-working spaces is a vast space. The sector is bound to grow and evolve. And India has just started its journey.