Indonesia Is All Set to Become the Next Co-working Hub With GoWork bagging huge funds, the battle for co-working dominance will further intensify in 2018
By Nidhi Singh
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The co-working industry is thriving thanks to startups and entrepreneurs for widely adopting this trend globally. Regions like Indonesia are turning into a hub for co-working spaces because of the large investments coming in from various investors.
Cashing In On the Co-working Revolution
In September 2017, Indonesia's Rework received funding from ATM Capital and Convergence ventures. Another co-working space operator, EV Hive (now known as Cocowork), one of the major co-working players in Jakarta merged with Clapham Collective to expand its reach.
According to Cushman & Wakefield February 2018 report, the start-up boom and enormous business potential are attracting some established co-working operators to the region. New York-based WeWork has already signalled its plans by acquiring Spacemob. Common Ground, a major Malaysian co-working space operator, completed series A financing of $20 million in June. JustCo, a popular Singapore co-working operator has recently secured funds (of about US$ 12 million) to support its expansion plans in Southeast Asia. Impact Hub, another major global operator, is already stationed in Jakarta, Manila and Kuala Lumpur. Ucommune, a major Chinese co-working player is also eyeing Southeast Asia.
GoWork Bags $10 Million
Recently, Indonesian co-working space provider GoWork announced that it has secured a Chinese investor to close its fundraising round. The total investment of 13.8 million Singapore dollars ($10 million) was led by Chinese venture capital firm Gobi Partners and developer Indonesian Paradise Property. The new funds will be used to boost operations, increasing co-working space from the current 10,000 sq. meters to nearly 25,000 by early 2019.
The Jakarta-based startup had also received a $2.5 million investment last year led by Ucommune, China's largest co-working company.
GoWork is committed to building inspiring co-working spaces and fully-equipped private offices to empower artists, creators, and entrepreneurs to reach new heights of success in Jakarta. Their thoughtfully designed shared workspaces provide not only a productive and collaborative environment for teams to thrive but also an ecosystem of tools and a network of support for businesses and companies to expand.
Merger With Rival Rework
In February, GoWork announced the completion of its merger with local rival Rework to create a new entity, Go-Rework. Despite the merger, the company's co-working spaces continued using original GoWork and Rework brands. The main focus of the merger was to launch operations in premium office towers for small- and medium-sized businesses and regional MNCs. The new enterprise will have over 3,500 sqm of space operating across five locations in Jakarta's central business district. The merger will also see its co-founders lead a combined team of more than 20 professionals expanding the venture to over 20,000 sqm across 50 locations in Indonesia by 2018.
With GoWork bagging huge funds, the battle for co-working dominance will further intensify in 2018.
