Hyderabad-based coworking startup iKeva has raised an undisclosed amount from Meenakshi Group to meet its aggressive expansion plans across metropolitan areas in India. The startup will use the freshly raised capital to expand and set up 15 new centres in the next 12 months and strengthen its back-end technology.
Monika Misra, Co-founder and General Manager, iKeva said, “This industry has tremendous room for growth, the fresh infusion of funds will help us speed up our business expansion this year, and foray into new fast-growing cities. Our revenues recorded an increase of 40% in the last fiscal and the target is to double this growth. The strategic equity investment by Meenakshi Group is built on a deeply aligned vision about the future of the iKeva brand. The Group’s expertise and experience will add substantial value to our brand as we grow exponentially.”
The investment by Meenakshi Group validates that real-estate players are now betting on the coworking and workspace as a business model. The coworking industry in India has shown a yearly growth of 23 per cent since 2013. Moreover, 40 per cent of the total workforce will be working from co-working space by 2025. And this mesmerizing trend has garnered the interests from the investors.
Mahesh Katragadda, Director of Meenakshi Group, said, “Collaborative work-spaces are displaying remarkable growth and we recognise strong synergies between the co-working model and traditional real estate. As a strategic investor, iKeva’s business model and the sustained growth achieved over the years, combined with a focus to tap into lucrative millennial-driven sharing economy hold great promise.”
Founded in Dr Ramesh Byrapaneni and Sateesh Andra in 2013, the coworking space opened its first centre in Banjara Hills, Hyderabad and soon expanded to Bengaluru, Chennai, Gurugram and Mumbai. The coworking space is planning to open two new coworking spaces in Hyderabad in the next three months. iKeva has more than 3,000 active members in across 8 live centres.
