BlackRock Inc, the world's biggest asset management firm, has led a $53 million (Rs 375 crore) debt funding round in Gurugram-based GoWork.
GoWork said in a statement it raised the money from a fund managed by BlackRock’s Private Credit team, along with CLSA Capital Partners’ Special Situations Group.
The investment in the GoWork, which is operated by Nimitaya Promoters Pvt. Ltd, is the first onshore private financing transaction in India by the New York-headquartered BlackRock.
GoWork said it will use the funding to grow its business and provide value-added services to its clients.
Company chief executive officer and chief evangelist Sudeep Singh said BlackRock and CLSA’s support would help GoWork to scale its growth across India. The funding would also help the startup to address the need of creating a support system catering to the infrastructural and business needs.
Separately, BlackRock’s head of Asian credit Neeraj Seth said the investment management firm was confident of its investment considering GoWork’s approach to the coworking model.
“We believe GoWork is an innovative leader in this fast-growing sector,” CLSA Capital Partners special situations group managing director Vaibhav Totla said.
GoWork currently has a capacity of 12,000 seats across eight lakh square feet in two offices in Gurugram. The company provides its clients with full managed office facilities, including other services such as gym, meditation zones and spas. The company says it will also add pet care facilities and children’s crèches to its amenities.
The development comes days after BlackRock raised $2 billion for its flagship opportunistic credit fund to invest in corporate credit assets across the world. The fund will invest in corporate credit assets across geographies and industries while seeking value across the credit cycle. BlackRock’s assets under management stands at $6.84 trillion as of June 2019.
Deals in the coworking segment
Co-working as a segment has taken off in recent years, with startups and established firms seeking to differentiate themselves by providing access to features which are economically flexible, and are not found in traditional working spaces.
Earlier this month, the Delhi-based GoHive raised Rs 2.5 crore. The startup said it will use the funds to double the number of seats at its centres to 5,000 within a year in the National Capital Region, Bengaluru and Mumbai.
Last month, the SoftBank-backed OYO Hotels & Homes acquired co-working space provider Innov8 to expand in the fast-growing segment. The move is part of the hospitality unicorn strategy of entering new areas to diversify its operations.