Formalising its much speculated push into the co-working segment, Oyo has reportedly acquired co-working space provide Innov8 for close to ₹200 crore. Multiple media reports have sighted figures ranging anywhere in between 200-220 crore (~32Mn USD). The deal is an all-cash one with the entire Innov8 founding team and investors taking an exit.
Started by Ritesh Malik and later backed by Y-Combinator, Innov8 has till date raised over USD 4 Million in investor money till date. It counts the likes of Vijay Shekhar Sharma, LetsVenture among others as its investors. The company competes with global players like WeWork and regional players like BHive, 91 Springboard among others. Innov8 operates 15 coworking spaces pan India with over 350 companies utilizing its over 5500 seats in those spaces.
Oyo on its end, had given several hints at expanding into the shared office space scene. As of now, India had no player with the cash to the likes of WeWork to take on this space. With Oyo’s backing and Innov8’s entire team, it will be an interesting battle to witness, in the coworking domain.
In terms of future plans, Oyo will continue to run Innov8 as a separate identity while expanding footprint to more locations. Oyo is already working on a comprehensive office space offering with as many as 3 different tiers of brands on offer. These include Workflo, Powerstation and now Innov8. While the former two will be lo to mid budget, Innov8 will take up the premium category tag.
The new ‘PowerStation’ brand is targeted at companies whose team sizes are growing and want “managed workspaces” in emerging business districts. According to Business Standard, the first such ‘Powerstation’ is coming up in the Pioneer Square complex on the Golf Course Extension Road, a premium commercial geography in the business district of Gurgaon.
‘Workflo’ on the other hand is targted at companies looking to run more of back-office tasks. These include call centres, sales centres and similar businesses. It is also for enterprises that are seeking multi-city solutions — budget-friendly, and functional.
In the past year or so, Oyo has expanded itself aggressively out of India. It now has a global presence in 10 countries, covering over 500 cities. The hotel count is to the north of 18,000 hotels and homes in over 515,000 rooms. Looking at the global ambitions that the company has put its eye on, it shouldn’t be a surprise if its co-workign solutions go global as well. More so, the same could also be offered in a mini-working environment as a part of its hotel offering itself.
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