WeWork India plans to raise $200 mn by end of this year
NEW DELHI: Co-working major WeWork India, owned by realty firm Embassy Group, will raise $200 million (around ₹1,400 crore) by December to expand business, and expects to be profitable at the entity level in one year, a top company official said.
Asserting that there would be no impact on the Indian operation due to deferment of public issue of US-based WeWork, India business head Karan Virwani said the company has already invested ₹1,300 crore, including ₹1,000 crore as equity, in this business and will continue to infuse more for growth.
“There is lot of speculation about WeWork India business. We still believe in WeWork brand. India business is really growing well. Embassy Group is bullish about the co-working sector and we continue to expand,” WeWork India CWeO Karan Virwani told Press Trust of India in an interview.
WeWork India has 26 operational co-working centres with 46,000 seating capacity. It has nine centres in Bengaluru, 10 in Mumbai, six in Gurugram and one in Pune where seats are available in range of ₹5,000-40,000 per desk per month.
“We are targeting to reach 100,000 desks/seats by end of the next year. In order to fund this expansion plan, we plan to raise $200 million by end of this year from foreign and domestic investors,” he said.
WeWork India will soon enter Noida and Hyderabad markets. It has taken on lease over 300,000 sq. ft office space to open three co-working centres comprising nearly 3,900 seats in Noida. The company is leasing more office spaces to expand operation.
Virwani said the company has achieved profitability at centre level and expects to earn profit at the entity level over the next 12 months.
WeWork India is an independent entity with the right to execute its business in India and it pays a management fee to the US firm. Last week, Embassy Group said there would be no impact on the Indian operation due to deferment of initial public offering of US-based WeWork’s parent —The We Company.