Awfis Gets $30 Million Funding From ChrysCapital, Sequoia, Other Existing Investors
Awfis will use the funding to fuel its expansion and meet rising demand for co-working spaces in India.
Awfis has raised about $30 million from India-focused private equity firm ChrysCapital and existing investors Sequoia India and The Three Sisters Institutional Office, among others, to fund its expansion and meet rising demand for co-working spaces in India.
Awfis has now raised a total of $81 million across four funding rounds. The co-working startup, at present, has 30,000 seats across 63 centres in nine cities, servicing 1,500 companies and 25,000 professionals.
The funding will be used to build the largest network of futuristic workspaces in India, introduce innovative products/services and establish new micro markets in the country, Awfis said in a statement.
"The additional capital raised will support us in expanding our footprint in India with more than 400 centres and 2,00,000 seats over the next 36 months,” Amit Ramani, founder and chief executive officer of Awfis, said in the statement. “Our focus is to fortify our base in Tier I cities and enter newer market with expansion into Tier II cities."
According to Kshitij Sheth, vice president at ChrysCapital, co-working has changed the way commercial real estate business is conducted globally and has picked up a lot of steam in India. And Awfis is leading the disruption, Sheth said.
“Sequoia has invested in companies capturing the shared economy market across the world—Airbnb, Uber and Ola are just some examples," said Ishaan Mittal, investment adviser at Sequoia Capital India Advisors, adding that commercial real estate is as large a market, if not larger, than any other shared economy.
Radha Kapoor Khanna, sponsor at Three Sisters, said: "With a strong focus on customer experience at affordable price points, we believe that Awfis will continue to pioneer the industry."
Founded in 2015, Awfis recorded a nearly three-fold jump in revenue to Rs 158 crore in 2018-19. It became profitable at the entity-level in November last year.
Established in 1999, ChrysCapital manages abour $4 billion across eight funds and is one of the leading private equity firms in India.
Three Sisters, led/sponsored by Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor’s daughters, was established in 2012 to promote new-age entrepreneurship.