WeWork, one of the top ten most valued startups globally, is entering India through an ‘operating agreement’ with Embassy Group, a leading office space developer in the country.

New York-based WeWork, a tech-enabled platform offering collaborative office services for entrepreneurs and small businesses, plans to build a 6-million sq ft network over the next five years, beginning with Bengaluru, Mumbai and National Capital Region early next calendar.

The billionaire Jitu Virwani-led Embassy will operate WeWork drawing upon the latter’s technology, design and global network of communities, sources directly aware of the matter said. Co-founded by Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey, WeWork will have broad representation and will receive royalty payments for providing knowhow to the local partner in the world’s fas test growing major economy. The Bengaluru-headquartered Embassy will invest around $150 million in WeWork India, which is also likely to receive investments from private equity giant Blackstone Group, sources added.

The 24-year-old Embassy scion Karan Virwani is expected to lead WeWork along with a team of industry veterans who are expected to join soon. WeWork is entering India at a time when community (or collaborative) office spaces are becoming popular with the number of independent professionals among the urban workforce rising rapidly. Independently working millennials – those who are starting up or working with small, emerging businesses – are redefining the office space market. WeWork, last valued at $16 billion, had initially explored the option of entering India on its own but decided on inducting a local partner given the unstructured real estate industry in one of the potentially largest markets.

The 6-year-old WeWork is considered the fastest growing office tenant in New York and London and counts JP Morgan, Fidelity Investments and T Rowe Price among its marquee list of investors. It has raised about $1.4 billion till date. The company’s current community network consists 95 locations in 21 countries with 70,000 members across the US, Europe and Israel. It recently forayed into Asian markets beginning with Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul earlier this year.

Source: Economic Times

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