Timely pivot, sticky enterprises, waning pandemic and a more-than-strong resurgence in demand for office space have helped Smartworks post a heady growth. Can India's biggest managed office space provider keep up with its furious pace?
April 2021, Noida. Neetish Sarda was spaced out. One, though, can’t blame the entrepreneur for feeling disoriented. It has been over twelve months of a lockdown, the country was in the midst of a deadly second wave of the pandemic in April 2021, and, in an uncertain environment, the only thing that seemed certain was an end of the world. Like most of the startup founders battling the Covid headwind, Sarda too was hoping against hope, grappling mental demons, and praying for his world to stay intact. “What if Covid lasts for another 8 months or so,” wondered Sarda, who co-founded Smartworks in 2016. Started as a co-working startup in Delhi-NCR, Smartworks has had a sedate growth in the formative years, pivoted to a managed office space provider in 2019, and closed the next fiscal with a heady operating revenue of Rs 257.6 crore. Sarda had managed to find a space for his maiden venture.