BlackRock, CLSA invest $53m in India's GoWork

GoWork – which is not connected with the VC-backed Indonesian company of the same name – has two locations in Gurgaon covering 800,000 square feet of floor space with 12,000 seats. The company offers fully managed office facilities as well as support services such as meditation zones, gyms, and sleeping pods, aimed at providing a platform for both start-ups and established businesses including Paytm Mall and CoverFox.

The new capital will be used to support GoWork’s expansion: the company aims to have 50 centers across India’s major cities by 2025. GoWork also plans to add amenities such as childcare and pet care centers to its service offering.

“GoWork is taking the brick-and-mortar aspect of the co-working concept further, as well as consistent measures to enable young businesses to reach their highest potential,” said Neeraj Seth, BlackRock’s head of Asia credit, in a statement. “We look forward to GoWork offering optimal operational efficiency for all start-ups as well as corporates.”

Homegrown players in India’s co-working space market include Awfis Space Solutions, which recently a $30 million Series D round this week led by ChrysCapital. Both companies compete with US-based WeWork, which operates in five Indian cities and plans to open an office in Hyderabad soon.

GoWork represents BlackRock’s first onshore private financing transaction in India, where the firm is more active as a public market investor. BlackRock’s private equity team has largely been cool on the country as well, with its last Indian transaction recorded by AVCJ being a $100 million funding round in 2014 for struggling online marketplace Snapdeal.

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• Topics
• South Asia
• Support services
• Credit
• India
• BlackRock
• CLSA Capital Partners
• professional services