Innov8 set to double presence in FY 2023-2024

Innov8 has revealed its expansion plan for the ongoing financial year, FY 2023-2024. The company, which recently added five new centres in key Indian business cities, is on track to inaugurate an additional five centres in the current quarter. The company's growth trajectory is expected to accelerate further as it aims to establish ten more centres in the final quarter of the financial year, totalling 20 for the year.

At the beginning of 2023, Innov8 was operating 20 centres in nine major business cities, including Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Ahmedabad. With this expansion plan, Innov8 is set to add approximately 8,000 seats and 300,000 square feet of co-working space across cities such as Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, and Chennai. To fund this expansion, Innov8 and its partners will invest over Rs 100 crore.

Centre expansion

The five centres added earlier this year are Innov8 Solitaire Corporate Park and Innov8 Times Square in Andheri, Mumbai; Innov8 Suman Business Park in Kalyani Nagar, Pune; Innov8 Huda City Centre in Gurgaon; and Innov8 Millenia in OMR, Chennai. Additionally, Innov8 Aerocity and CP in New Delhi, Innov8 Marol in Mumbai, and Innov8 locations in Bellandur and KR Puram in Bangalore are scheduled to be inaugurated within this quarter.

Innov8's shift towards a '5 minutes to a metro station' approach has played a role in driving this growth. The company has enjoyed over 90 per cent occupancy rates, high demand, and competitive rentals in its co-working centres that are strategically located within a five-minute commute to metro stations. With the increasing prevalence of hybrid and office-based work arrangements, proximity to public transportation has become a major attraction for employees and businesses alike.

Startup Dominance

Start-ups account for nearly one-third of co-working space adoption, second only to the technology sector. The Indian flexible workspace industry's operational footprint has grown, reaching 53 million square feet in FY 2023, marking a 400 per cent increase since 2018. This growth is projected to continue, potentially doubling to approximately 106 million square feet over the next five years, and Innov8 aims to capitalise on this market opportunity through its planned expansion.

Ritesh Malik, Founder, Innov8, expressed his thoughts on the expansion, stating, "In FY2023, Innov8's growth in centres was 30 per cent. Since our pivot to the '5 minutes to a metro station' strategy, we have nearly doubled the number of centres in the country. Growth in India's flexible space industry and the startup ecosystem in general is indicative of a fundamental shift in how businesses perceive and utilise office spaces."

Pankhuri Sakhuja, Business Head of Innov8, added, "On average, Innov8's co-working offices achieve 90 per cent occupancy in less than three months, compared to the industry average of six months."

Innov8 currently operates in nine cities, hosting over 20 centres and accommodating more than 8,000 employees from prominent brands like IndusInd Bank, Jio Saavn, Phone Pe, and Tata Digital.