Co-working startup WeWork India lead Juggy Marwaha resigns

In less than 10 months of joining the co-working startup WeWork as India lead, Juggy Marwaha has quit the company. According to media speculations, Marwaha takes an exit as the New York-based startup, valued at $20 billion, wanted a greater autonomy over the domestic operations.

Earlier, Marwaha was working with the independent property consultancy Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) as a managing director (south India). In November last year, he had resigned from the company and to join WeWork.

“Marhawa's expertise helped connect many people across India to the space, services and community they need to create their life's work. We appreciate his efforts and wish him success in the future. Moving forward, we will continue to expand its footprint in India under the continued leadership of Karan Virwani, as we believe in the long-term potential of India as a hub for innovation, entrepreneurship and business,” said a WeWork spokesperson, talking to Times of India.

Last year, WeWork decided to enter India through an 'operating agreement' with Embassy Group, a leading office space developer in the country, where the latter would be the master franchisee for a five-year period. Karan Virwani is the oldest scion of Embassy Group.

In July this year, WeWork entered the Indian market with the launch of WeWork Galaxy, a 2200 members co-working space, in Bengaluru.

Founded in 2010, WeWork today has offices in around 190 locations globally. According to the company, it is adding approximately 10 to 15 locations per month, the world over. It has Microsoft, Bacardi, Samsung, and about 450 enterprises as client members.

The co-working space claims to have doubled the member base with 80,000 members utilising the coworking facilities being offered in 149 physical locations, offices in 188 locations, covering 45 cities across the world.

Besides, Softbank's recent $4.4bn investment in WeWork, most of which is earmarked for expanding the footprint in Asian markets, is seen as a potential game changer.