This Bengaluru-based coworking space that housed Levis, redBus, and Bluestone now handles 500 clients of all sizes

Coworking spaces are greatly disrupting traditional work environments in India. As the demand for coworking spaces grows, brands such as WeWork, 91springboard, Ixora, are becoming popular. But Bengaluru-based Brands of India winner in the real estate category, IndiQube, is trying to be different from the others.

By operating across workspace segments, IndiQube’s clients range from professionals using one seat to enterprises with 500 seats and above.

But most of IndiQube’s competitors which operate in the coworking segment cater to companies with less than 20 seats, says Rishi Das (44), Co-founder, IndiQube. According to him, IndiQube has developed the expertise to cater to the dynamic needs of clients and onboard them into the business’ growing ecosystem.

“This makes for a diverse client base, flexibility, and growth options, and a strong community. These are the key differentiators of IndiQube,” he adds.

As niche coworking spaces emerge and large enterprises slowly embrace agile workspaces, IndiQube seems to be on the right path.

Launched in 2015, it has already crossed over two million square feet of functional workspace. It has over 500 clients at the moment, Rishi adds. It has housed brands such as Levis, redBus, Bluestone, Scripbox, FreshMenu, No Broker, Rubrik, Thoughtspot, Fungible, Lendingkart, Cleo, Eximius, and others. IndiQube also raised Series A Funding of $ 15 million from WestBridge Capital in 2018.

Like other coworking spaces, IndiQube serves all real-estate related needs of its clients. These include workspace planning and flexibility, managing cafeterias, conference rooms, internet lines, power backups, security, and more.

Its pricing varies from Rs 9,000 to Rs 14,000 per month per seat, and this is applicable for both coworking and dedicated workspaces. However, the pricing differs on multiple variables such as locations, city ,and more.

IndiQube’s Co-founder, Meghna Agarwal (40), says her diverse skills and interests in design have helped transform the coworking space brand into what it is today.

In an earlier interview with YourStory, she said, “My prime focus while designing interiors has always been the efficiency, usability, durability, and costing of a project, without compromising on aesthetics. I believe designing is always client-specific and not what the designer wants. Space optimisation, aesthetics, and functionality are the important parameters to look at while designing a space.”

How it started

Meghna and Rishi were inspired to start IndiQube through the desire to help companies find the perfect space to run their business.

“During our initial days of entrepreneurship, we realised that real estate was rigid, non-agile, and involved huge capex. Either we had tech parks on one side or residential apartments on the other side. A dedicated product for MSMEs, startups, and growing companies was totally missing,” Meghna says.

The duo also noticed many entrepreneurs who wanted the ideal space to grow their business without worrying about the hassle of setting up and running the company’s working space. Hence, the idea of a coworking brand was born. Rishi adds, “IndiQube is a venture close to my heart because it reaches out to fellow entrepreneurs and adds value to their growth journey.”

The founders say IndiQube was bootstrapped and they invested their own money during the initial years of the company. After raising funding, the coworking space brand is ready to capitalise on the changing nature of work.

“Real estate is undergoing a huge transformation and the lines between home and work are getting blurred. ‘Walk to work’, ‘Work from anywhere’, ‘Satellite offices’, AI and other technological advancements are changing the way we are going to consume workspaces,” Rishi says.

Leveraging digital

To stay in touch with this evolving industry, one must leverage modern and easy-to-use technology to the maximum. IndiQube’s ace up its sleeve is its MiQube app, which is designed to make the best use of IndiQube community. It can be downloaded on the Google Play Store, Apple’s App Store, or used by logging into it on the MiQube website.

The app allows the user to order food from IndiQube cafeterias, avail offers that are exclusive for IndiQube clients, book partnered spaces and refreshments, book gym slots, hire transport, and much more. "Technology is also used extensively for facility management, efficiently design spaces, and energy efficiency by the use of solar energy,” Meghna says.

The founders believe that in the age of digital transformation, millennials are on the constant lookout for a place with the culture of hyper collaboration, which enables them to work, live, and play. IndiQube is an endeavour which seeks to provide this by amplifying the possibilities of collaboration, Rishi says.

“We help companies seamlessly expand and grow in the same location without worrying about the hassle of searching for, shifting to, and managing new space. Companies can grow from one seat in the co-working space to a 500-seater dedicated office,” Meghna adds.

The road ahead

But it is not always easy to game the evolving market. IndiQube finds it challenging to target trends that shift frequently. The founders believe that this is because more millennials are entering the market and form the majority of the workforce.

“This constant evolution in the industry adds in new challenges to the work front, but also increases excitement and the possibility of success, Meghna says, “It is also challenging dealing with clients who want everything in a small space. Thus, designing to bring out the importance of the space has always been tricky.”

With the model of meeting new trends and satisfying the changing tastes of clients, the coworking space brand has grown to over 45 properties across Bengaluru, Chennai, Pune, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Noida. “Thus, there is a need for creating a dedicated, specialised team to handle the robust supply management, cash flow management, and capital management,” Rishi explains.

But scale won’t slow them down. In fact, it is expansion which is on their minds. In a few years, they want to see IndiQube become the most preferred brand for people who want an integrated and personalised work-space experience.

“Whether it is a freelancer or an MNC, we will have flexible, customised, and affordable work-space solutions for their needs,” Rishi says.

The idea is to move beyond providing space as a rigid commodity and offer workspace as a service, based on varied requirements. To achieve this, the founders are looking at the brand as a hospitality business where servicing clients becomes top priority regardless of the number of seats they have taken.

“We are currently working on programs like 'Own-Your-Campus', 'Work-From-Anywhere', 'Assessment Centres', ‘Co-living Spaces’, and ‘Smart Campuses’,” Meghna says.

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