OYO forays into co-working spaces with two brands

Each of the centres will have facilities such as Wi-Fi, air conditioning, free housekeeping services, locker facilities, and CCTV surveillance.

After acquiring co-working space Innov8, SoftBank-backed OYO on Tuesday launched two other co-working brands - mid-scale Powerstation and lower-scale Workflo - under OYO Workspaces.

On Tuesday, OYO confirmed the acquisition of Innov8, the co-working company it was reported to have bought earlier this year.

The initial launch of OYO Workspaces will open the doors to its over 21 workspaces, with 15,000 seats across 10 cities in India.

Of these, Innov8 has offices in six cities - Delhi, Noida, Gurugram, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, and Mumbai.

It has 16 centres hosting over 6,000 employees of brands such as Swiggy, Paytm, Pepsi, Nykaa, OLX, and Lenskart, among others.

Powerstation has one centre in Gurugram with over a 1,000 seats and Workflo has set up four centres across NCR, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru with a hosting capacity of over 1,500 seats.

Priced between Rs 6,000 and Rs 9,999 per seat per month, OYO Workspaces aims to expand its presence to 50 centres across India by the end of 2019.

The workspaces initiative will be led by Rohit Kapoor, the chief executive officer of OYO’s new real estate businesses.

“Armed with insights and technology, we are bullish on growth in the co-working space...Given our experience in the hospitality industry and investment in core competencies that have helped us scale so fast in the hospitality, housing rental, and banquet services business, we believe we are uniquely placed to leverage to create a strong offering for the corporates looking for space as a service," said Kapoor.

He said for a good location, OYO could look at setting up a 300-1,000 seat centres.

Business Standard earlier reported that OYO’s Powerstation brand is aimed at clients whose team sizes are growing and want “managed workspaces” in emerging business districts.

Workflo aims to transform regional offices, sales offices, customer support centres, and growing start-ups that want affordable options.

It is also for enterprises that are seeking multi-city solutions - budget-friendly, and functional.

Each of the centres will have facilities such as Wi-Fi, air conditioning, free housekeeping services, locker facilities, and CCTV surveillance.

Similar to the hotel and long-term accommodation space, OYO plans to provide affordable office and workstation spaces.

OYO, which has been expanding its hotel business in over 80 countries, would be competing with the likes of co-working giants such as WeWork, which is in more than 287 physical locations in 77 cities and 23 countries around the world.

Photograph: Courtesy, oyorooms.com