Gurgaon-based Top Technologies Pvt. Ltd, which runs coworking platform The Office Pass, has raised $245,000 (Rs 1.5 crore) in seed investment from a group of individual investors led by Arun Tadanki, former managing director of Yahoo Southeast Asia and India, Aditya Verma, co-founder of the startup told VCCircle.
The company will use the new capital to enhance its platform and hire technology and product talent, Verma added.
“The founders have the right domain expertise and they have been focused on building a scalable, capital-light business model where users can book office spaces on monthly, daily or even hourly basis,†said Tadanki.
VCCircle had first reported in March that the startup was in the process of raising between $200,000 and $300,000 in seed investment.
The Office Pass is a technology platform that connects freelancers and micro small and medium enterprises with office spaces nearby. If a commercial property owner has an office space that does not yield returns, they can plug it on the platform and start earning. The coworking startup oversees an enterprise’s expenses related to the security deposit, maintenance charges, lock-in period, furnishing and equipment, rental, electricity, WiFi, security, housekeeping, and others. It also provides on-demand meeting and conference rooms through its platform. The company’s first facility went live in Sohna Road, Gurgaon in March this year.
“We aspire to connect companies and professionals with high-quality office spaces within five kilometres. If they are able to work from a high quality, yet affordable, office nearby, it will solve a big productivity problem for Indian companies,†Verma said.
The Office Pass was founded by former Makaan executives Verma, Nikhil Madan and Sachin Gaur. Makaan.com Pvt. Ltd was earlier a part of Anupam Mittal-founded People Group, which is also behind tech ventures such as matrimonial site Shaadi.com and mobile content firm Mauj Mobile. While Verma has served as chief executive and chief strategy officer at the venture, Madan and Gaur were at managerial positions.
The co-working space has two business models. First, the full-stack one, wherein a startup either leases or buys an office space and takes care of the operations, and second, where a co-working startup converts areas within cafes, restaurants, and other public spaces into an office. While startups such as Innov8, 91Springboard, CoLife, and InstaOffice follow the first model, others such as myHQ follow the second.
Recent deals in the co-working space include Innov8, which in February raised angel funding from Venture Catalysts and individual investors such as Paytm’s Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Google’s Rajan Anandan and others through the LetsVenture platform.
In January, Gurgaon-based InstaOffice raised pre-Series A funding led by online venture capital platform Globevestor and other angel investors, including Toppr’s Zishaan Hayath.