Peak XV Partners-backed office sharing startup Awfis files IPO papers

Office sharing startup Awfis Space Solutions has filed a draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for its initial public offering (IPO).

The Peak XV Partners-backed company said it plans to issue fresh shares worth Rs 160 crore in addition to an offer-for-sale (OFS) component of over 10 million shares.

Peak XV Partners, formerly Sequoia Capital India, will sell over five million shares in the proposed IPO. Mauritius-based investor Bisque Ltd also is looking to sell nearly as many shares of Awfis Space Solutions, while Link Investment Trust will sell over 75,000 shares.


Peak XV currently owns 15 million shares in the company, aggregating to 22.9% stake. Bisque owns a 23.5% stake, while the company’s founder and CEO Amit Ramani holds 18.2% stake.

In its last fundraising round in 2022 Awfis Space Solutions was valued around $110 million.

The company said it plans to utilise the net proceeds from the IPO for expansion and establishing new centres, working capital requirements, and general corporate purposes.

As of June 30, 2023, the Delhi-based company had 121 operational coworking centres across 16 cities.

In the fiscal year ended March 31, Awfis saw its operating revenue surge to Rs 545 crore, from Rs 257 crore in FY22, as per information provided in the DRHP. For the first quarter of fiscal 2024, Awfis reported operating revenue of Rs 188 crore.

In FY21, the company saw its operating revenue drop to Rs 178 crore from Rs 226 crore in FY20 on account of Covid19-led disruptions.

In the DRHP, the company has noted that it provided its clients discounts aggregating to Rs 7.8 crore and Rs 4.3 crore in FY21 and FY22, respectively, and terminated eight centres during the two fiscals as a result of the impact of the pandemic.

Awfis is yet to hit profitability. In FY23, it reported a net loss of Rs 47 crore, down from Rs 57 crore reported in FY22. In the June quarter of the ongoing fiscal, it reported a loss of a little over Rs 8 crore.

ICICI Securities, Axis Capital, IIFL Securities, and Emkay Global are the book running lead managers to the issue.

Awfis joins a beeline of new-age venture-backed companies planning to go public.

Bengaluru-based electric vehicle maker Ola Electric is planning to file its draft IPO papers soon, as is SoftBank-backed omnichannel retailer FirstCry, which is aiming to raise $500-600 million.

Others working on their public offerings include business-to-business (B2B) ecommerce firm OfBusiness, food and grocery delivery platform Swiggy, and ecommerce enablement platform Unicommerce.