BHIVE Workspace raises USD 1.2 m to fuel pan-India, global expansion

Leading co-working and shared office space provider BHIVE Workspace has raised USD 1.2 Million in a fresh round of funding, to fuel its pan-India and international expansion of premium co-working spaces.

The latest round is led by Blume Ventures, along with marquee investors like Actor-Director Ramesh Aravind, Mr. Meera Reddy, MD of SKCL and other high net-worth individuals.

In an earlier funding round in 2015, BHIVE raised around USD 1 Million from Blume Ventures and high profile investors like Raghunandan G, Founder, TaxiForSure; Rajesh Rai, Venture Capitalist; Arihant Patni, Managing Director, Hive Technologies; Sanjay Mirchandani, Owner, Mirchandani Group; Arun Narayan, Director, UK India Business Council; among others.

"In the last two years, we've expanded our co-working space rapidly and currently have 10 centres within Bangalore. We've focused on the right mix of hospitality and technology to deliver a superior co-working environment, and have applied principles of lean start-up to achieve operational efficiency. We want to leverage our expertise to benefit more companies and start-ups," said Shesh Rao Paplikar, Co-Founder and CEO, BHIVE Workspace, "We are about to cross Rs. 12 Cr annual revenue run rate, and based on our current pipeline, we expect it to grow to Rs. 100 Cr in a year from now," he added.

BHIVE Workspace is one of the early entrants into the Indian co-working industry and has quickly expanded to over 100,000 square feet of office space with 10 centres across Bangalore. BHIVE has focused on unit economics and all of its current centres are profitable. Its latest centre at Residency Road is rated as the most premium co-working space in Central Bangalore (CBD) with high-end interiors, premium lounge and cafe, facilities like free workouts, murphy beds, showers and access to free events. Current members of this centre include celebrities, actors, directors, top VCs, founders and innovative start-ups.

"Since the first round, BHIVE continues to grow with a focus to help build and create great workplaces with best-in-class global standards for Indian corporates and office goers. Key strengths of BHIVE include their focus on creating experiences and making themselves relevant for virtually all organisations, regardless of their size and form." Ashish Fafadia, CFO of Blume Ventures.

Co-working spaces have taken off globally, drawing a lot of interest from strategic investors. BHIVE's latest round of investment saw participation from some of the top real estate developers in the country.

"As a commercial real estate developer, I see that co-working is going to disrupt the traditional office space business. Considering the headway BHIVE has already made and the quality of their team, I am confident that BHIVE will be lead the co-working revolution in India," said Mr. Meera Reddy, Managing Director of SKCL, one of the top developers in Chennai.

BHIVE plans to expand to other major cities of India and across Asia in the coming months. Positioned as a premium co-working space, it is stepping up on the level of hospitality and technology enabled services at its centres. One of the key innovations by BHIVE has been its internet technology, BuzzNet, which has attained the reputation of being the most reliable workspace internet in the country. The company is also integrating IoT and AI into its workspace technology to take member experience to a whole new level.

"I am really impressed with the energy I see at BHIVE and am excited to see the way it has evolved over the last couple of years. In fact, I've decided to take up office space at BHIVE's Residency Road centre for myself. It's great to be a part of the co-working revolution, which BHIVE is leading from the front" said popular actor and director Ramesh Aravind.