PUBLISHED ONNovember 24, 2016 6:52 AMByRachael Boon
One of the latest co-working spaces in town has just secured US$5.5 million (S$7.85 million) in seed funding.
This was a record sum for the South-east Asian region, it said.
Spacemob, on Claymore Hill, said yesterday that the funding round was led by venture fund Vertex Ventures South-east Asia.
Temasek Holdings-linked Vertex Ventures Holdings - an early investor in several start-ups such as luxury e-commerce portal Reebonz - set up a venture fund for South-east Asia and India.
The other primary investors were angel investors in the property and hospitality industries, and venture capital firm Alpha JWC Ventures.
The 15,000 sq ft co-working space opened last month, and since then, the business has already become operationally profitable, said Spacemob.
It offers full business services such as information technology, finance and health insurance plans.
MAXIMISING PROFITS
In an age where commercial and retail properties are finding it difficult to find tenants, Spacemob offers them a unique way to get the most out of the space that they have.
SPACEMOB FOUNDER TUROCHAS FUAD
Founder Turochas Fuad said in a statement that Spacemob offers a co-working management service, in the same way that hotel operators may not necessarily own all the hotels under their brands.
Mr Fuad also founded Travelmob, a vacation rental site acquired by the world's leading vacation site, HomeAway, in 2013.
He said: "The more successful Spacemob is, the more yield the property owners get out of the space.
In an age where commercial and retail properties are finding it difficult to find tenants, Spacemob offers them a unique way to get the most out of the space that they have."
He added that this caters to "the new workforce who seek more flexible work environments".
Another two Spacemob sites are slated to open in the first quarter of next year in Singapore and Jakarta.
The plan is to have 30 Spacemob sites across the Asia-Pacific within the next three years.
Said Vertex Ventures' chief executive Chua Kee Lock: "Spacemob stood out from other co-sharing players in the market because of their business model and regional expansion plans.
With Mr Fuad's background and track record in the sharing economy, we are confident Spacemob will be a rousing success."
This article was first published on November 28, 2016.
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