BHIVE Workspace gets into franchise model, plans to raise $3 million

 BHIVE Workspace, the largest co-working space in Bengaluru, is all geared up to expand its geographical footprint by introducing a franchise model.

In an interaction with DH, BHIVE Workspace CEO and Founder Shesh Paplikar said, “BHIVE’s franchise business model is an innovative offering in the office space sector and will help accelerate our growth. We have been getting a very good response from property-owners. It is a great opportunity for them as our revenue-sharing model is far better than getting rent on a monthly basis.”

BHIVE’s first franchise will soon be opening in the CBD area of Bengaluru. “These franchises will maintain the same high standards as existing BHIVE centres,” he said.

Driving the brand

BHIVE is also actively working towards its next round of funding, approximately $3 million. The company intends to use the funds to further strengthen its brand and drive expansion.

“We plan to expand our presence to six major cities including Mumbai and New Delhi. We believe there is a strong market for our offerings in these cities. It will also help us increase the area under operations from existing 50,000 sq feet to 5 lakh sq feet, by the end of 2017,” he added. Currently, the company has four spaces in Bengaluru, located at HSR Layout, Koramangala, and Indiranagar.

BHIVE started its journey in November 2014, and has so far raised funding from Blume Ventures and angel investors such as Raghunandan G (Co-founder, TaxiForSure), Rajesh Rai (Co-Founder, VentureCity), Arihant Patni (Managing Director, Hive Technologies), Sanjay Mirchandani (Owner, Mirchandani Group), and Arun Narayan (Director, UK India Business Council).