Singapore-based co-working firm Deskimo has raised $3 million seed round led by Y Combinator, Global Founders Capital (GFC), Pioneer Fund, Seed X, Starling Ventures, TSVC, alongside other investors from Asia-Pacific, the United States and Europe.
Deskimo said in a statement, after launching in Singapore and Hong Kong, the company is expanding to Jakarta, Indonesia. It has partnered with 30+ workspace partners in Jakarta for the soft launch and expects to add another 20+ locations before the end of the year.
It sees strong demand from companies that move to a permanently hybrid workplace, a shift that is happening all around the world. It also expects greater demand in emerging markets due to traffic congestion and homes where wifi and electricity might not always be stable.
“The pandemic has fundamentally changed the corporate approach to work. Finally, employee effectiveness has moved into focus rather than employees’ time spent at the office. However, not everyone has a great home office setup that lets them stay focused on their work” said Jonathan Soh, Deskimo Managing Director in Singapore.
“Being able to get out of the house for a few hours to get deep work done without wasting time on commuting to central business district (CBD) is priceless,” he added.
As corporate offices across South East Asia continue to run at minimal occupancy and work-from-home remains the norm, Deskimo said, companies are turning to the co-working firm as an alternative to home offices.
“We are literally knocking on open doors. Company managers are reducing their fixed office leases and are moving to a flexible arrangement with their workforce. It unlocks significant cost savings for companies, and it adds flexibility and freedom to employee’s lives,” said Adrian Ng, Deskimo Managing Director in Hong Kong.
Deskimo is co-founded by Raphael Cohen, former Head of Asia at Rocket Internet, and Christian Mischler, previously co-founder at GuestReady, HotelQuickly, and Foodpanda. It provides on-demand access to 100+ professional workspaces in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Jakarta.
Over the past few months, brands like WeWork, The Hive, The Executive Centre, and Garage Society and many others have joined Deskimo’s mission to provide professional work desks to the emerging hybrid workforce in a flexible format.