With demand for flexible workspace has risen post the second wave of the pandemic, co-working operator Awfis is targeting two-fold jump in revenue to ₹600 crore in FY23, said founder and CEO Amit Ramani on 7 November.
The firm is also mulling to launch its initial public offer (IPO) towards the end of 2023 mainly to raise funds and give exits to investors, he said, adding the company has so far raised about ₹450 crore from investors.
Currently, Awfis has 150 centres across 17 cities, comprising about 90,000 desks and offers a desk in a price range of ₹7,000-20,000 per month.
The co-working segment, which includes managed office space, has been performing exceedingly well in the past 12-15 months, Ramani said.
"Our revenue grew to ₹280 crore in last financial year from ₹220 crore in previous fiscal year. This financial year, we are targeting around ₹600 crore revenue," he said, highlighting that the firm has already achieved a monthly run rate of ₹500 crore in revenue.
Asked about the occupancy level, he said the centres that are in operations for more than 6 months have an occupancy of around 85 per cent. On clients profile, Ramani said around 35 per cent of its clients are large enterprises.
Talking about per desk pricing, he said the rate fell during the pandemic but now it is 10-20 per cent up from the pre-COVID level.
The company is partnering with real estate developers and individual landlords, for expansion in an asset-light mode. Though 25 per cent of portfolio is through pure leasing where it has to make capital expenditure. It has partnered with Bengaluru-based Prestige group to open co-working centres at various locations.
Awfis tied up with Blackstone group firm Nucleus Office Parks for a new centre in Mumbai with a seating capacity of 450, earlier this year. On fund raising, Ramani said the company has no such plans but it is planning to launch the IPO by December next year.
"We will start preparation from April onwards and plan to file the Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) with Sebi by middle of the next year," he said, but did not share the size of the IPO.
