Exclusive: Awfis raises Rs 40 Cr from existing backers; revenue touches Rs 226 Cr in FY20

Facing the heat of the pandemic, Sequoia capital-backed co-working space firm Awfis has raised fresh funds from two existing investors. Bisque Limited and Link Investment Trust have put in Rs 40 crore in the Delhi-based company.

Bisque has invested Rs 39.4 crore and Link Rs 60 lakh, regulatory filings show. Awfis has allotted 39,400 compulsory convertible debentures or CCDs to Bisque whereas it allotted 36,878 preference shares to Link.

This is the third infusion by the two investors who had invested in Awfis in July 2019 and May 2020. So far, they have invested Rs 170 crore in the co-working platform.

The proceeds are likely to help Awfis streamline its operations which is recovering from the hard knocks of the ongoing pandemic. While the company had claimed to have achieved its pre-Covid monthly sales, experts believe that co-working spaces have hardly regained 50% of their sales.

To counter the hardships of the pandemic, Awfis had pivoted to enable the transition to remote working or adapt to the work from home culture. It launched Awfis@Home, a service that offers physical infrastructure support such as IT services and tech integration. The company had claimed to have sold over 1,000 units of this new offering. Awfis had also launched a facility management service Awfis Care to manage office spaces for businesses. 

Unlike co-working spaces that cater to startups, the majority of Awfis’ clients are large companies with long-term leases. With this fresh infusion, Awfis has mopped up $60 million in a mix of equity and debt financing rounds to date. 

In the fiscal year ending March 2020, Awfis had managed to improve its financial performance. According to regulatory filings, the company’s operating revenue recorded a 47% jump to Rs 226.4 crore while its losses rose by only 8% and stood at Rs 67.98 crore in FY20.

Awfis has posted a total expense of Rs 285.47 crore in FY20. 

While the company has improved its unit economics with a significant jump in operating revenue, the disruption caused by the pandemic will impact its earnings in the ongoing fiscal. In FY21, it would be interesting to see the impact of the pivot on its financial performance.