The rise of coworking spaces in India: from concept to household term

Coworking spaces is not a new term anymore. If you work in a Tier-I city in India, you’ll be able to find coworking spaces at every nook and corner. Just a few years back coworking spaces were practically unheard of. They only became a prominent sight in corporate India just recently.

History of coworking spaces in India

To trace back the history of coworking spaces in India, we have to first look at how coworking spaces came about in the first place. That will take us back to 1999 when a designer by the name of Bernard DeKoven coined the word “coworking” which he used to refer to the idea of a place where people could work and collaborate. 

Fast forward to 2002, when the first coworking space emerged in Vienna, Austria where PR consultants, startups, and freelancers could collaborate. Then in 2005, in San Francisco, the modern coworking space as we know it today, was started by Brad Neuberg. 

In India, coworking spaces began in 2012 when 91Springboard opened its doors. After this, the number of coworking spaces began to almost double. iSprout also opened its first coworking space back in 2017 during a time when coworking spaces were relatively new. Right now there are more than 2,197 coworking spaces around the country which accounts for 3% of total office stock. 

What the future holds for coworking spaces in India 

The meteoric rise of coworking spaces in India from a concept to a near-household name among employees and employers deserves applause. With the shift towards a more flexible working style, coworking spaces will continue to hold a prominent space in the commercial real estate sector. The flexibility it offers, cost-efficiency, collaborative atmosphere, and amenities make coworking spaces a vital part of the current work culture. 

Cities like Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Delhi- NCR, Pune, and Kolkata lead the race when it comes to the number of coworking spaces located within their boundaries. With Bangalore and Hyderabad accounting for at least 50% of the total demand share. By the end of 2023, it is expected that coworking spaces will cross 50 million square feet in India.

The market space in coworking will not just be dominated by startups and freelancers. Large corporations also want to dip their hands into the growing coworking space. Prior to the pandemic, large corporations avoided coworking spaces. But after the pandemic, all these large corporations are renting out coworking spaces for their employees due to their flexibility and much lower costs.

Another shift in demand is from an open shared floor to dedicated cabins. Most people have this idea about coworking offices being large open floor spaces with dedicated chairs and tables per employee. Though this idea still holds true, there is a shift towards more privacy within the coworking space. This resulted in companies asking for dedicated cabins within the coworking office space. Keeping in mind this shift, iSprout offers fully-furnished office spaces for your entire team with exclusive meeting rooms, all designed according to your specific requirements.

There will also be a big shift towards Tier-II and Tier-III cities. Most of the best coworking spaces in India are currently in Tier-I cities like Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi, etc. But with employees having the option to work from home, companies are more likely to finance a coworking space in smaller cities and towns rather than shifting their employees to a major city. iSprout has multiple offices in major cities like Hyderabad and Chennai as well as smaller cities like Vijayawada. This makes it easy for employees to shift from one office to another office without having to shift to a new city.

Final thoughts

The trend and culture of coworking spaces in India are here to stay and will continue rising for more years to come. The future of these coworking spaces looks great right now. We can safely say that coworking culture will be a future driving force of corporate India.

Here at iSprout, we help empower businesses with our inspiring and flexible coworking spaces. Be it a dedicated desk or a ready-to-move-in office, iSprout has it all. We offer office spaces in prime locations across multiple cities including Hyderabad, Chennai, Vijayawada, Bengaluru, and Pune.