Last three months have been extremely tough for the businesses due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Co-working spaces have been one of the worst hit industries as companies started operating remotely. 91Springboard, a co-working space provider startup managed to raise Rs 45 crore from its existing investors during an economic situation like this.
The funding will play a crucial role in the company amid the pandemic as the startup continues to create co-working communities for corporations and SMEs. The company said in a statement that they will be utilizing these funds to offer new-age and customized solutions that will help its clients to adapt better to the new normal. The firm also claims to be one of the few in its industry to be profitable at company level.
“We have reopened 14 of our 27 co-working spaces across India. These 14 office spaces are located in Delhi NCR, Gurgaon, Noida Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Goa. The rest of the spaces will reopen soon based on government advisories and our own assessment of health and safety. We have received an encouraging response from our members with nearly 60% of members returning or committed to return soon,” Anand Vemuri, CEO of 91Springboard stated.
The startup took up a few initiatives to help their userbase during the lockdown beginning with pausing their billing cycle to give them some relief. Another step the company took was to launch startups vs Covid initiative to consolidate all efforts put by investors, government departments and stakeholders to support startups fighting with Covid-19 challenges. It also started 91slive, a user engagement platform which offered information ranging from learning and knowledge (professional and personal) workshops, health & wellness stories and Covid-19 updates.
Co-working spaces have been garnering popularity not only among startups but also MNCs due to their flexible nature and pan India access. 91Springboard recorded two-times growth in demand from big companies as they look for more strategic partnerships and other benefits of co-working spaces. The company serves the interests of various brands like Zomato, OLX, TataSky, Cleartrip, Mahindra Retail, and Cardekho among others.