Meet Deskimo, a platform for hybrid workspaces

The COVID-19 pandemic fundamentally shifted the way employees looked at their workplaces. Offices encouraged the work-from-home culture during the pandemic lockdowns, meaning employees could work from home or anywhere they liked. It was no longer going to the office for nine hours daily. 

“While businesses and companies would look to get people to come to work from offices, the model is shifted forever,” Christian Mischler, Co-founder, Deskimo, tells YourStory Gulf Edition.  

Mischler and Raphael Cohen—former Foodpanda executives—started Singapore-headquartered Deskimo for companies to enable a hybrid workforce. The Y Combinator Spring 21 batch startup provides on-demand access to work desks across professionally managed workspaces in the UAE, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Indonesia. 

“The hybrid workforce is here to stay; it is also cheaper for companies. A lot of the operational costs are cut off, and it is the future of work. The pandemic has simply accelerated this,” says Mischler. 

What does it do? 

Founded in 2021, Deskimo offers two products. First, on-demand access to co-working spaces. The Deskimo app generates a QR code based on the location, letting users check in at their preferred workspace and pay per minute of use. 

Second, it operates on a B2B model, where it works with different organisations that provide budgets to their employees for using co-working spaces. 

Speaking of how Deskimo benefits co-working companies, Mischler says, “They have one relationship with us, and we give them access to users. For companies, Deskimo is a single touch point, where they have access to a large base of co-working spaces.” 

The startup aims to provide employees with a near-home office space. For example, if an employee chooses to work from home on any day of the week and the environment isn’t conducive, they can choose and work from a co-working space available on the Deskimo app. 

The startup also provides its clients with workplace management software—companies with downsized office space, thanks to hybrid work. 

He recalls as a company’s in-house consultant, he had a project to reduce fixed desks to flexible desks. “With hybrid work becoming the norm, we believe companies can reduce the number of desks per employee from 0-8 to 0.3. It is a significant cost-saving opportunity to reduce the square footage of space.” 

However, if employees want to work in an office setup, companies need to have a system where employees can book a desk or meeting room. 

Key differentiator 

Some of Deskimo’s competitors include LetsWork, India’s MyHQ (acquired by Amarock), US-based Flex, and UK-based Hubble. 

While most of these platforms work on a B2C model and support mainly freelancers, digital nomads, etc., Deskimo targets corporates who want to provide an office space equal to their company standards.  

“The product is very corporate-oriented. They can download analytics, integrate HR Tools, and everything that is a part of the company,” explains Mischler.  

In the UAE, Deskimo operates over 20 workspaces on a contract basis. The team is looking to add more spaces, including high-end hotels that provide meeting rooms, etc. 

It is also looking closely at business development, where it plans to integrate the two parts of its product to make it easier for businesses to use Deskimo’s services. 

"I recently tried out the Deskimo app for my co-working needs, and I was impressed with how convenient and flexible it was. The pay-as-you-go feature and the ability to easily check in and out using the Deskimo scanner made my experience hassle-free,” says Sam Drake, Founder of Qwerty Digital, one of Deskimo’s clients.

Deskimo follows a commission-based model, where it charges the co-working spaces, who set the price for their office spaces. In fact, it also charges for the workplace management system based on employee size. On average, it charges $4 per month, depending on the company size.

So far, Deskimo has raised a total of $3.1 million in seed and pre-seed funding rounds. Besides Y Combinator, Pioneer Fund, Global Founders Capital, TSVC, Starling Ventures, and Seed-X have invested in the startup.

Mathias Jaeggi, General Partner and CEO at Seed-X, says, ”Our decision to invest in Deskimo was largely based on the expertise and successful track record of its founders, who have built large-scale marketplaces before.” 

Adding, “Deskimo brings a novel corporate audience to workspaces, enabling companies to provide near-home office options to their hybrid working employees. Deskimo is the world’s first workspace aggregator, fully integrated end-to-end and charges users by the minute. We’re excited about Deskimo's journey so far.