space provider Space Solutions is in advanced talks to close a $25 million round led by ChrysCapital, one of the largest domestic private equity firms, according to two people familiar with the matter. Awfis, which counts venture capital firm , Three Sisters, the family office of Yes Bank promoter Rana Kapoor and Temasek-backed venture debt firm InnoVen Capital as institutional backers, will use the proceeds to further ramp up its pace of growth, even as deep-pocketed competitors double down on the space. For ChrysCap, which manages assets worth $3 billion, the deal, if successful, will be among its first in a new-age business. Private equity investors have taken selective bets on internet companies, but have shown interest in platforms that have both an online and physical presence. Awfis, which was seeded by Three Sisters, has so far raised an estimated $51 million in a mix of equity and debt financing. It had last announced a $20 million financing round led by existing investors in July last year. For the financial year 2018-19, the company said revenue grew almost three-fold to Rs 158 crore, from Rs 56 crore. It has reportedly projected a topline of Rs 300 crore in the current financial year. An Awfis spokesperson said, “We deny any such development and cannot comment on market speculations.” ChrysCap had not replied to an email until press time. The development comes as India’s still-nascent co-working sector continues to expand, with investor interest keeping pace with what is seen as a real estate play underpinned by a technology foundation. Earlier this year, SoftBank-backed OYO Hotels & Homes acquired a majority stake in Gurugram-headquartered co-working space provider Innov8 for an estimated Rs 200-Rs 220 crore. While both companies have yet to confirm the deal, the transaction is ambitious for the Ritesh Agarwal-led OYO in the burgeoning industry. Additionally, WeWork India, the domestic unit of the US-based office sharing real estate giant which is valued at $47 billion and is preparing for a much-anticipated public listing, has also said it plans to expand its footprint in Asia’s third largest economy, a market it entered in 2017 in partnership with the Embassy Group. Earlier this year, Karan Virwani, chief executive of WeWork India, told ET that all of the company’s buildings were profitable and cash flow positive within six months, and that it had hit over 90% occupancy within six months of opening. As of May, Awfis was operating 63 centres, housing 30,000 seats, across 10 cities, and has targeted doubling the capacity to 60,000 seats by March 2020. It has also launched a new product, Awfis Enterprise Solutions, which provides exclusive and fully-customised offices for companies across the country. Flexible workspaces account for about a fifth of office leasing in India. Total gross leasing volume in India touched almost 13 million square feet during the first quarter of 2019, which was 1.45 times higher than the year-ago figure, according to data from Cushman & Wakefield India.
Awfis is reportedly in advanced talks to raise $20 million in a funding round led by ChrysCapital , one of India ’s biggest private equity firms. The co-workspace provider currently operates 60,000 centres across 60,000 cities in US . It plans to double the number of desks it provides to 10 by March 2020 .