91springboard scores $6 mn to offer customised business solutions for the new normal

Community workspace provider 91springboard has raised $6 million in a bridge funding round from returning investors Pearl Brook Holdings, AL Nour International Holdings and Almunajem Group.

The company will use the fresh capital from the inside round to provide customised solutions to help its members adapt to the new normal of work in the Covid-19 and post-Covid-19 world, a company spokesperson told TechCircle. With these new-age solutions, 91springboard plans to offer its members a slew of benefits such as flexibility, pan-India access and strategic partnerships.

Including this round, the company has so far raised a total of $43 million.

“91springboard is one of few coworking players that has been profitable on a company level. Being a people-first organisation, we have always supported our members in times of crisis, and we are happy that our work has been appreciated,” Anand Vemuri, co-founder and CEO at 91 Springboard, said.

Earlier this month, Vemuri said the company reopened 14 of its 27 offices across locations such as Delhi-NCR, Gurugram, Noida, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Goa. 

“The rest of the spaces will reopen soon based on government advisories and our own assessment of health and safety.  We have received an encouraging response from our members with nearly 60% of members returning or committed to return soon to our co-working spaces,” he said at the time.

Since the beginning of the lockdown, the company has witnessed a two-fold increase in demand from large enterprises, he said. 

In March, the firm paused the billing cycle on membership plans, and also launched two initiatives, Startups vs Covid19 and 91slive, to help clients cope with the impact of the pandemic.

Startups vs Covid19 consolidates all Covid-19 containment and relief efforts taken by investors, government departments and stakeholders in the startup ecosystem, thus offering a repository of resources for those fighting against the pandemic. On the other hand, 91slive is a user engagement platform that provides learning and knowledge workshops, health and wellness stories and Covid-19 updates.  

Founded in 2012 by IIT Delhi graduate Pranay Gupta, Cornwell alumnus Varun Chawla and Stanford graduate Vemuri, 91Springboard provides coworking spaces and a community for startups, arranges networking events, and provides mentorship and investments.

Its clientele includes companies such as Zomato, OLX, TataSky, Cleartrip, IndiaMart, Mahindra Retail, 1 MG and Cardekho. 

91springboard is among the top seven players in the business, in terms of the number of facilities in India. The list also includes WeWork, Awfis, Cowrks, Regus, Smartworks and OYO’s Workspaces. 

Among these, WeWork and Awfis recently raised funds to tide over the economic fallout from Covid-19.

WeWork India, a franchisee of the New York headquartered coworking space provider, said earlier this month that it would raise $100 million from its global partner to support its growth plans. The company’s India unit is owned and run by real estate firm Embassy Group.  

Last month, Awfis secured $5.3 million (Rs 40 crore) in a mix of equity and debt from British radiator company Bisque and New Delhi-based Link Investment Trust.