Reinventing The Wheel

With two giant steps, New York-based WeWork has made an indelible mark in the Indian co-working sector. Karan Virwani, director of the company’s India operations talks about the brand’s identity, community and ambitions

- Rashmi Naicker

The past decade has been an era of the ‘gig economy’ – a term characterising an industry that’s brimming with freelancers, contractors, startups, part-timers, etc. With the resurgence of this sect, many are now witnessing the spurt of a new breed of workplace commonly known as co-working spaces. As explained in an article in The Atlantic’s story titled “As Coworking Spaces Scale, Can They Keep Their Communal Vibe?”, these communal workspaces began to come up in major US cities in the mid-2000s as higher percentage of the working class became self-employed due to the economic crises. The industry has only grown ever since.

ORIGINS & COLLABORATIONS

Pioneering this concept is New York-based WeWork, which rents office and desk spaces to teams and individuals. In a matter of just seven years, it has skyrocketed to the leading position in its industry with 170+ offices in 56 cities worldwide, and the company is unstoppable.

With India ranked as the third largest hub for start-ups in the world, there was a gapping need for organised infrastructure to aid its start-up growth. This led WeWork to launch its Indian arm in association with Bengaluru-based Embassy Group, with Karan Virwani at the helm.