Conceptualization of Smartworks

Neetish, Co-founder of Smartworks has been exposed to futuristic workspaces of Google and Microsoft during his college days. At that time, India was also undergoing tremendous workspace transformations and moving away from the conventional office format.

He, through his research, found that due to limited workspace design innovations and infrastructural flexibility, India's transition to co-working space was slow and lacked behind. This is when he decided to disrupt the idea of workspace and create an unparalleled office experience for offices being accessible and affordable, which can maximize overall employee engagement and productivity.

Since then, there has been no looking back, Smartworks is building vibrant workspaces with the vision to make office fun again. The positive and pleasing work environment translates into a place of productivity, engendering additional power and better yield.

Smartworks - Workspaces that work for you

The aim of Smartworks is simple 'Create office place where people "want" to go, not just "have" to go!' Therefore, its office spaces are a combination of attractively designed infrastructure, state of the art technology integration and amenities that are available to the members.

When Smartworks launched, it was basically focusing on Start-Ups and Freelancers. With further research and analysis, they reached the conclusion that enterprises make up to the maximum of the market for co-working space. Therefore, these three-pronged strategies contributed to the growth of Smartworks, with which it could generate 90% revenue from enterprise clients.

• Bringing large enterprises in the purview of co-working spaces : Smartworks has analysed the demand patterns and identified large enterprise segments to be riped for the growth of co-working spaces. Smartworks has leveraged this opportunity and worked towards providing an unmatched office experience to large corporations and big MNCs including Fortune 500 companies.


• Investments in large facilities with faster turnaround time : Every business faces the challenge of finding the right location for the long term having their unique ideas and business development plans. The Start-Up take all the challenges from the enterprise and invest time and research on such profitable buildings for lease for 9 to 10 years. Then, provide their clients completely fitted configured space within 4-6 weeks, which compliments their brand ethos and requirement. Due to its extensive knowledge and expertise in the area it matches the preferences of clients, with which it has become the first preference/choice for large enterprises.


• Focus on design and environment for productivity : Infrastructure of a workplace plays a crucial role in keeping employees engaged, empowered, and happy. Artistic touches in workplace design like comfortable seating options, flooring, gaming zone, vibrant cafes convey the personality of a co-working site. Therefore, all Smartworks offices are artistic and smart buildings, comprising all services and technology enabled.

Smartworks - Funding and Investors

Smartworks has raised $ 25 Million in Series-A funding from Singapore-based real estate giant Keppel Land, on a minority stake. With this strategic investment, the venture will be able to scale up even more rapidly across India’s Tier-I cities where it has its presence and further invest in building up our next generation product, improving client experiences, as well as boosting talent and technology.

Business Model and Revenue Model of Smartworks

Smartworks works on the lease model, where they occupy large spaces on long-term lease from landlords. These spaces are configured as per the preferences of clients.

Neetish said, "Our minimum lease term is for 3 years, and on an average, a client takes about 280 seats, which is 10,000 sq. ft. area. So, we are into a large format, unlike a regular co-working space. The aim is to reach beyond providing space as a rigid commodity and offer workspace as a service based on varied requirements."

The clientele

With companies like Amazon, Johnson & Johnson, Lenovo, Booking.com, OLX, HDFC Realty and DHL among others, having offices at Smartworks, it’s imperative to believe that they’re not competing with co-working spaces that are more about Start-Ups only. It design offices keeping in mind the needs of the workforce of tomorrow.

SmartVenture for Start-Ups

Smartworks has come up with a ground-breaking concept called SmartVenture, which is designed to help early-stage Start-Ups. With this concept the start-up team can use Smartwork's space and services at a subsidised costing for the period of first 6 months. As the Start-Up gets established, it increases the rental on a semi-annual basis.

Moreover, early-stage Start-Ups can have these services without paying anything for the first six months. However, the founders here have to share a nominal equity in their business with SmartWorks.

Future Plan

SmartWorks has marked its presence in 9 major Indian cities – Delhi, Noida, Gurgaon, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai and Pune. It further plans to enter cities such as Ahmedabad and Bhubaneswar with small-format facilities in coming years and is expected to expand its workplace portfolio to 5.5 million sq ft by 2020 end.

"Today, we feel proud of how we have revolutionized the whole office experience for our clients and have become India's largest provider of agile workspaces with a growing footprint." said Neetish.