Coworking and flexible workspace providers across the country have come together to form the Indian Workspace Association (IWA), an association that will be the de facto voice of the workspace industry in India. Although the association has been formed to represent and protect the wider interests of the industry as a whole, its immediate goal is to define protocols and practices for the industry to address the ongoing COVID 19 crisis as well as plan strategies for the way forward in a post-COVID world.
IWA represents the majority of companies in the coworking and flexible workspace segment and currently, it comprises of more than 40 players – at both a national and a state level.
The association is led by a core team of six members who have been nominated by the larger group to advocate the industry’s concerns and put forth demands to the key stakeholders.
These members are:
● Akshit Mehta – Founder, Vorqspace
● Karan Virwani – CEO, WeWork India
● Pranay Gupta – Cofounder, 91 Springboard
● Shesh Rao Paplikar – CEO, BHIVE Workpsace
● Srishti Dhir – Founder, Hub and Oak
● Vikas Lakhani – Cofounder, InstaOffice
● Yatin K. Thakur – Founder, CoworkIn
● Karan Virwani – CEO, WeWork India
● Pranay Gupta – Cofounder, 91 Springboard
● Shesh Rao Paplikar – CEO, BHIVE Workpsace
● Srishti Dhir – Founder, Hub and Oak
● Vikas Lakhani – Cofounder, InstaOffice
● Yatin K. Thakur – Founder, CoworkIn
Mr. Pranay Gupta, a member of the Indian Workspace Association said, “Like most industries, the coworking industry has also been considerably impacted by the COVID 19 pandemic. Thus, we felt the need to create an association to synergise our efforts to help us present our unified position in front of our partners, industry stakeholders, as well as the government.
In the current environment, IWA’s topmost priority is to seek attention towards government support, landlord rent waiver and service provider discounts. We are liaising with the relevant ministries and authorities to get support and relief for the industry, which could eventually be passed on to our clients. As an industry, we are also working together to formulate communication of our situation to all our ancillary service providers as well.
As an association of responsible coworking players, we are also fulfilling our role in helping in the fight against COVID-19, part of which is keeping our spaces open for essential service providers. We would continue to support the government in rebuilding the economy once the threat has subsided, and we feel that it’s imperative that we do that in a responsible and commercially prudent way. “