Startup that charged $1.20 a day for coworking space in nightclubs folds
(2023/07/07)
- Reference: 1688696831
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2023/07/07/friyey_coworking_nightclub_folds/
- Source link:
In the pre-COVID rush to cash in on enthusiasm for co-working spaces, Indian outfit Friyey Space came up with an interesting take on the concept: instead of spending billions on real estate, install Wi-Fi and desks in locations that aren't busy during business hours.
The startup settled on restaurants and nightclubs as its preferred locations, with tenants asked to leave before the premises turned to its regular activities. That co-tenancy arrangement saw Friyey offer workspace at the very keen price of ₹99 ($1.20) a day – vastly less than the likes of WeWork charge for even the least lovely workspaces.
Images of Friyey facilities posted to [1]Instagram suggest the outfit didn't do much more than use the furniture already present in its chosen venues. Tenants appear not to have external monitors, ergonomic chairs, or the other trappings of conventional co-working spaces. Nor does it appear that the venues catered to tenants, in the sense of offering food and beverages. Friyey instead operated an app with which customers could acquire nourishment.
[2]
The just-crazy-enough-to-work idea recruited over 500 venues and Friyey claims more than 24,000 people used its offices.
[3]
But that wasn't enough to make the biz viable. On Thursday, founder Yogesh Thore took to [4]LinkedIn to announce Friyey would wind up.
[5]Salesforce to let two-thirds of space in SF high-rise
[6]We blew too much money hiring like crazy so we gave you the boot – Amazon
[7]SoftBank to stop investing 'randomly' after losing billions of dollars
[8]'Lots of failed startups came out of Campus': Google axes London hub because startup scene 'doesn't need' another 7 floors of workspace
"Today, we are closing an exciting chapter of innovation, transformation, and entrepreneurial spirit," he wrote. "I do want to admit that we failed but the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship that guided us will continue to thrive," he added.
Friyey secured modest funding, and [9]reportedly found it impossible to secure extra funds that would have allowed its ongoing operation and expansion.
It is far from alone in finding it hard to turn a profit with coworking services: WeWork posted a $264 million loss for its most recent quarter (Q1 2023) – in part thanks to 73 percent physical occupancy rates. That metric jumped six percent year-on-year, perhaps suggesting some workers were ready to return to the office, or wanted a less spartan experience than that offered by Friyey. ®
Get our [10]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.instagram.com/friyey_remotely/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZKeN43@MRFec0upYotWo-gAAARY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZKeN43@MRFec0upYotWo-gAAARY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7082224608086495232/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2022/07/14/salesforce_leasing_san_francisco/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2023/01/20/amazon_job_cuts_costs/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/12/softbanks_tech_loss/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2021/06/21/google_closes_london_campus/
[9] https://www.startupinsider.in/friyey-shutdown-why-indias-innovating-coworking-giant-faced-funding-crunch/
[10] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
The startup settled on restaurants and nightclubs as its preferred locations, with tenants asked to leave before the premises turned to its regular activities. That co-tenancy arrangement saw Friyey offer workspace at the very keen price of ₹99 ($1.20) a day – vastly less than the likes of WeWork charge for even the least lovely workspaces.
Images of Friyey facilities posted to [1]Instagram suggest the outfit didn't do much more than use the furniture already present in its chosen venues. Tenants appear not to have external monitors, ergonomic chairs, or the other trappings of conventional co-working spaces. Nor does it appear that the venues catered to tenants, in the sense of offering food and beverages. Friyey instead operated an app with which customers could acquire nourishment.
[2]
The just-crazy-enough-to-work idea recruited over 500 venues and Friyey claims more than 24,000 people used its offices.
[3]
But that wasn't enough to make the biz viable. On Thursday, founder Yogesh Thore took to [4]LinkedIn to announce Friyey would wind up.
[5]Salesforce to let two-thirds of space in SF high-rise
[6]We blew too much money hiring like crazy so we gave you the boot – Amazon
[7]SoftBank to stop investing 'randomly' after losing billions of dollars
[8]'Lots of failed startups came out of Campus': Google axes London hub because startup scene 'doesn't need' another 7 floors of workspace
"Today, we are closing an exciting chapter of innovation, transformation, and entrepreneurial spirit," he wrote. "I do want to admit that we failed but the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship that guided us will continue to thrive," he added.
Friyey secured modest funding, and [9]reportedly found it impossible to secure extra funds that would have allowed its ongoing operation and expansion.
It is far from alone in finding it hard to turn a profit with coworking services: WeWork posted a $264 million loss for its most recent quarter (Q1 2023) – in part thanks to 73 percent physical occupancy rates. That metric jumped six percent year-on-year, perhaps suggesting some workers were ready to return to the office, or wanted a less spartan experience than that offered by Friyey. ®
Get our [10]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.instagram.com/friyey_remotely/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZKeN43@MRFec0upYotWo-gAAARY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZKeN43@MRFec0upYotWo-gAAARY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7082224608086495232/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2022/07/14/salesforce_leasing_san_francisco/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2023/01/20/amazon_job_cuts_costs/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/12/softbanks_tech_loss/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2021/06/21/google_closes_london_campus/
[9] https://www.startupinsider.in/friyey-shutdown-why-indias-innovating-coworking-giant-faced-funding-crunch/
[10] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Good gawd
This sounds like taking open office (which is already Hell) and making it the 9th circle.
There are few things skeezier than a nightclub during the day. They're dirty, the furniture is NOT comfortable (it's not trying to be), it is absolutely not designed for desk work (ditto), and every single sound is audible from everywhere. You're going to be hearing those douchebags on the phone all day long. They didn't provide any extra furniture or expected tech like external keyboards or monitors. And they didn't even have snacks or drinks, you had to use the company's own skeezy app to order some to be delivered whenever. Yeah, this is upper management's wet dream (they'll have real offices), everyone else's worst nightmare. Of course I can't help but fear this is the glorious future for the terrible corporate Elmo bosses of the world and and this was just ahead of its time - but then instead of nightclubs they'll probably just use public pavements (sidewalks).