Coworking Spaces in Pune

Pune

The emergence of Mumbai as a hub of top organisations led to other cities in the state like Pune coming under the limelight as a city with great potential. Today, Pune is home to some of the big names in the IT industry such as Tech Mahindra, Infosys, Accenture and IBM. This is one of the primary reasons for young talent from across the country to step foot in this city. In fact, Pune is filled with young professionals who want to pursue a successful career while enjoying the upbeat culture and nightlife of the city.

As Pune’s prominence as an IT hub strengthened, the influx of other organisations also saw an upsurge. From fashion houses to media firms, the city has it all. This also marked the beginning of the coworking culture in the city. While still in its initial stages, Pune is gradually moving towards a more coworking-centred working environment. The city is also home to some of the major automobile and manufacturing industries, promoting it as a blank canvas for people to experiment with the gig economy and the shared office concept.

Today, Pune has some of the best coworking spaces in the country, located in areas such as Koregaon, Baner, Kharadi, Viman Nagar, Shivaji Nagar, Magarpatta City and more.

What is the work culture in Pune?

As globalisation entered India as a saviour of millions of unemployed professionals, the Indian work culture was transformed into a modern landscape. This saw a shift from conventional work practices to an avant-garde work setting across the country.

While globalisation took a while to enter the business scene in Pune, it soon caught up with the international aspects of a business. Since multinational corporations made a delayed entry to this city, it started off on a more unconventional note as compared to other cities. Pune, today, is considered one of the fast-flourishing IT hubs of India. 

Coworking spaces in Pune - the city's approach towards them

The increased presence of top tech firms in Pune has urged many entrepreneurs to choose the city as the hub of their start-up. Apart from a technologically advanced environment, Pune also has a large pool of talent, seeking to expand their horizons by learning new skills and taking on new challenges. This has proven to be beneficial for start-ups who are looking for young talent, especially those willing to break out of their comfort zone.

Coworking spaces have witnessed a warm welcome in Pune, owing to the growing prominence of the gig economy in the city and the constant upsurge of start-up owners in the city.

Why are coworking spaces right for you?

• A platform for collaboration: Today’s professionals, in the early stages of their career, might experience challenges in terms of working in a team and developing people skills. Coworking spaces have created a platform for individuals, freelancers, start-up owners as well as corporate employees that allows them to experience these challenges while at the same time learn from them.
  
  Working in an environment that functions along the same lines as a community of people gives professionals the opportunity to collaborate with like-minded people. In fact, coworking spaces have, many a time, acted as the catalyst for professionals with similar interests to get together and create an innovative business model.
   
• Cost-effective: Renting entire office space at the initial stage of your start-up can be difficult and finding a space to work with minimum distraction can be a tough quest for freelancers and individual contractors. In this event, shared office spaces have come to the rescue, offering a long list of amenities at pocket-friendly prices. Whether you are an individual, a small team of entrepreneurs or a start-up in its toddler stage, coworking spaces have something for every client. In fact, shared office spaces also allow you to lease office suites for short and pay-as-you-go, which caters to the needs of small to medium scale businesses at affordable prices.
   
• Build a strong network: Networking is a skill that doesn’t come naturally to everybody. However, you will have nothing to worry if you are working out of a shared space. Most coworking spaces focus on roping in clients who belong to the same field or at least related fields, helping them reach out to clients over coffee in the same space they work out of. This can prove to be a one-in-a-million opportunity for those who are new in the field or want to build a broader network.

Best coworking spaces in Pune

As the culture of the gig economy is becoming more prominent in India, coworking spaces have become the need of the hour. The dearth of jobs has left the skilled population of India high and dry. Naturally, they have shifted to other modes of earning the buck, which includes freelancing or working with top organisations on a contractual basis. Gradually, the pay for talented freelancers has increased to match full-time workers. Furthermore, featuring under the gig economy allows professionals to work with a flexible schedule.

If you want a shared office space that can serve as your workspace, here are five options to look out for in the lively city of Pune:

• Awfis

Reigning the coworking space section of India since 2015, Awfis has a whopping 11 centres in Pune. The centres are located at Hinjewadi, Kode, Viman Nagar, Baner, Church Road and Pimple Saudagar. The products offered by these centres include private cabins, fixed desks, flexi desks and meeting rooms, all priced the same across all centres. While the fixed desk at any of the centres would cost you Rs. 11,000 per month, availing the services of a private cabin would cost you Rs. 13,000 per seat per month.

However, not all centres across the city offer all the products. Hence, you must visit their website to understand better about the plans and pricing. Awfis offers a regular supply of caffeine, apart from high-speed Internet, lounge, parking, courier services and coffee rooms. You can also choose to book a product for a day or a week, depending on whether the product you choose has that option available.

• Inscape

With the idea of uplifting the clients’ morale to help them perform at work, the Inscape coworking space was introduced in Pune in 2019. The first wellness-based shared office space in Pune, Inscape has brought about a different perspective in the game. With products such as conference rooms, private offices, virtual offices, open workspaces and training events, this shared office space provider has revamped the story of coworking spaces and how.

Inscape offers top-notch amenities such as reading rooms, seamless WiFi services, unlimited supply of caffeine as well as wellness drinks, event spaces, printing services and collaboration space. While the pricing of the products is not available for public viewing, you can always contact the Inscape team to get a better idea about the package. The centre is located in Koregaon Park.

• The Daftar (The Office)

Open to start-ups, early-stage founders, freelancers and corporates, The Daftar has centres in Baner and Solapur Highway. The Daftar was launched with the aim of creating a community of professionals who can collaborate to create a successful idea while at the same time giving rise to healthy competition among counterparts.

The products offered by this coworking space include part-time plans, monthly plans, private cabins, cool hours (night coworking), conference and training rooms and event spaces. They also have a provision for already existing members to refer their friends and earn points in return that can either be redeemed in cash or be adjusted with the referrer’s bill. The Daftar offers various services such as high-speed WiFi, tea and coffee, a full-equipped pantry, recreation zone for members to relax, concierge services, parking and storage space.

• Trios

Trios has four coworking spaces set up across the city in locations such as Balewadi, Baner, Viman Nagar and Wakad-Hinjewadi. The products offered by this shared office space include a work desk, hot seat work desk, conference room, meeting room and private cabin and are priced between Rs. 700 to Rs. 21,000 depending on the product you choose.

Trios aims to be the bridge between you and fully functional office space, allowing you to avail high-quality services without burning a hole in your pocket. This shared office space provides all the amenities that you need to work out of a space peacefully, such as office assistance, video conferencing, pantry (where you can order beverages as well as food), power backup, excellent Internet services, printing facilities as well as a housekeeping team to keep the space spick and span.

• Cowork Studio

Since its inception in 2015, Cowork Studio has gone on to establish four centres across Pune, each centre striving to provide a coworking space that can satisfy the needs of professionals. With centres at three locations in Kharadi and one in Viman Nagar, this shared office establishment has set on the path to growth. Various products such as dedicated desks, hot desks and private cabins are offered by Cowork Studio across all their centres.

Furthermore, they offer a long list of amenities, which includes, air-conditioned office space, power backup, an endless supply of tea and coffee, relaxing zone, 24X7 access and free parking space. This coworking space is ideal for freelancers and early age start-ups. While a dedicated desk can cost anywhere between Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 7,500 at one of these centres, the price of a hot desk ranges between Rs. 4,500 to Rs. 6,000. On the other hand, you will have to pay somewhere between Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 27,999 for a private cabin.