Florida, US-based coworking space provider Venture X has entered India with two facilities in Gurgaon, a top executive at its parent group said.
The company has so far invested about $5 million in the Indian market and plans to invest another $2-3 million by 2023 through its India partners, United Franchise Group executive vice president Mike Gallagher told ET.
“We specifically targeted India because we see there is tremendous potential here. Size of the market is huge and the trend is moving towards flexible space, which is what we specialise in,” said Gallagher.
“I would be surprised if India did not have the most square feet of facilities within the Venture X network in the next 4-5 years,” he added.
The company has started with about 60,000 sq ft space and plans to scale up to half a million sq ft by the end of next fiscal year.
“We spend a lot of resources in identifying the ideal Venture X partner. We have done very well through the pandemic,” he said.
The company plans to focus on metro cities and open 8-10 centres in the next one year. It is in talks with builders in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad and Chandigarh.
“We recognise India as a crucial market in the Venture X global footprint,” said Gallagher.
Venture X is an affiliated brand of UFG coworking division, CoworksTM, which is the largest privately owned franchisor in the coworking industry, with more than 200 locations opened or signed up in over 30 countries.
“We have got a very good response so far (in India). While one centre is fully occupied, the other one is 70% leased. It’s the right time for flexible office spaces. Post pandemic, there is a lot of demand,” said Anil Lakra, India partner, Venture X.
The company’s two centres in Gurgaon together have 1,200 seats. These are spread across 45,000 and 16,500 sq ft space at Sector 67 and 44.
“We have currently opened two locations and will grow to 8-10 across India by end 2023,” said Rahul Kapur, who is also its India partner.