Singapore’s Keppel Land-backed Smartworks, India’s largest provider of managed workspace, has added its newest centre, Olympia Pinnacle, in Chennai. In a significant expansion move, Smartworks, which clocked a revenue of Rs750 crore in 2022-23, has taken on lease about 200,000 sq ft of prime office space, bringing its total presence in Chennai to over 500,000 sq ft. Smartworks’ live centres in micro markets of Guindy, Teynampet and OMR Road are 100 per cent occupied with sector-agnostic clients.
“Our unwavering focus on agility, adaptability, cost-efficiency, top-notch amenities, community engagement and holistic experiences has consistently led the transformation of the managed office space landscape across India,” says Neetish Sarda, founder, Smartworks. “This expansion aligns with our vision to empower businesses by providing them with customised office solutions that enhance productivity and promote growth in a professional, well-equipped environment”.
Smartworks is India’s largest managed workspace platform for enterprises, with a footprint of over 8 million sq ft across 40+ locations in 13 cities (Delhi-NCR, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, Jaipur, Indore, Kochi, Coimbatore and Ahmedabad) and caters to more than 500 organisations across Forbes 2000 companies, global MNCs and established unicorns/soonicorns. In the last couple of years, Smartworks has cemented its market leadership by expanding in key cities of India and taking up large/independent commercial office spaces. All its mature centres have 90 per cent or above occupancy. In the last year alone, Smartworks leased 10 per cent of India’s total commercial office real estate footprint.
Founded in April 2016 by Sarda and Harsh Binani, Smartworks is redefining the Indian office experience by leveraging its robust phygital platform to deliver tastefully designed, fully serviced, tech-enabled, flexible and affordable workspaces. “Central to this ambition is the company’s motto, ‘Workspaces that work for you, with the vision of creating the perfect environment for enterprises to focus on their core work, while ensuring their employees are happy and productive,” says Binani, co-founder, Smartworks, which raised $25 million in 2019 from Singapore’s Keppel Land to fund its expansion plan.
“Smartworks is not just a co-working space provider,” affirms Binani. “We have consciously moved away from this model to become a managed space operator focussing on enterprises. While everyone else was going after start-ups and freelancers, we pioneered B2B on-boarding in India. Smartworks is a complete workspace solution that allows businesses to explore their fullest potential. With the seamless integration of physical and digital platforms, we enable enterprises and their employees to access various products and services to achieve optimum productivity”.
Digitally enabled ecosystem
“With companies reimagining work, Smartworks is well-suited to cater to our needs,” says S.P. Ravi, president, India & Manila operations, Ocwen Financial Services, which is one of the several customers that Smartworks has across various sectors. “Their digitally enabled ecosystem, focussed on contactless services, fits the need of the hour, as it enables a safe and hassle-free workspace for employees. We are excited about this association, as it offers us access to multiple prime office locations, room to expand and world-class infrastructure, while taking away the stress of managing a workspace during such unprecedented times.”
With over 50 per cent of revenue share coming from the IT/ITeS sector, Smartworks has witnessed growth from across segments in adopting flex spaces as part of their real estate strategy. Its prominent clients include names like Google, Accenture, Persistent Systems, Samsung multi-city, Discovery, L&T Technology Services, EY, Tech Mahindra, Starbucks, Bridgestone, Schaeffler India, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Moglix and Groww. Currently, 40 per cent of Smartworks’ revenue comes from multi-city clients.