Simpliwork Offices to Raise $50-60 Mn for Overseas Business
Realty firm Salarpuria Sattva's co-promoted Simpliwork Offices plans to raise USD 50-60 million as equity to expand business in India and enter into overseas markets, like Singapore, as it sees the demand for managed flexible office space rising amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Salarpuria Sattva, one of the leading real estate firms in the country with large presence in office market, has 50 per cent stake in Bengaluru-based Simpliwork Offices. Kunal Walia, the founder and CEO of Simpliwork, holds the remaining stake. Walia said, "The Company achieved a robust growth during the 2020-21 fiscal year in terms of revenue and also area expansion despite the pandemic. We were about 1.2 million sq ft in March 2020. We have added close to about 2 million sq ft in the last year alone," he said. Founded in 2018, Simpliwork's current operational portfolio is 2.8 million sq ft across Bengaluru, Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Pune and Hyderabad. It is also entering Chennai market. Walia highlighted that several major projects were delivered in the midst of the pandemic last year, such as India's largest flexible workspace (more than 5 lakh sq ft) in Hyderabad and the second largest flexible workspace (over 4 lakh sq ft) in the NCR region, among others. "Our turnover for FY 2019-20 was around Rs 65-75 crore. From Rs 70 crore, we have reached about Rs 350 crore, making it a 5x growth. The company will look at Tier-2 cities with captive demand and is seriously considering Kochi, along with Jaipur and Ahmedabad. However, we will venture into these cities only if we see a demand. If not, our focus will be on the top 6 cities, where 80-85 per cent of the office demand is in India," Walia said. On fund-raising, Walia said: "We are definitely looking at fundraising but probably towards the end of this year. The market needs to stabilise first and demand needs to pick up as well. Simpliwork is looking to expand internationally as it does not want to be restricted to India alone. If similar demands exist in international markets like Singapore, Hong-Kong, Dubai, would like to use the fund raise to venture into these markets. Some M&A and consolidation will definitely happen there. The international outreach would be the primary reason to explore fund raising," he said. Simpliwork plans to enter Singapore market early 2022, but it depends on the pandemic and its ramifications, including travel restrictions etc. The company is aiming for a USD 50-60 million fundraise, that can capitalise us comfortably for the next 3-4 years and plans to raise this fund in pure equity form.
Tags : News/Views Salarpuria Sattva India Singapore COVID-19 pandemic Expand Kunal Walia Raise Simpliwork Offices Overseas Business