From Indonesia, EV Hive raises $20m to ride Southeast Asia’s co-working boom

Photo credit: EV Hive

Co-working facilities are designed to be wide and spacious, but their market is getting increasingly crowded. In Indonesia, one operator, EV Hive, has raised US$20 million in fresh funding to compete.

The series A round was led by SoftBank Ventures Korea and joined by new investors H&CK Partners, Tigris Capital, STIC Investments, Korean internet portal Naver, and Line Ventures, the investment arm of the Japanese messaging powerhouse.

The funding is one of the highest in the sector across Southeast Asia. Last month, Singapore-based JustCo announced a US$177 million partnership with Singapore state fund GIC and real estate developer Frasers Property to expand its presence in the region and enter new markets.

EV Hive hopes to build on its 21 existing venues to hit 100 locations throughout the region by 2022. It’s already exploring opportunities in places like Thailand, Vietnam, and Myanmar, says CEO Carlson Lau.

Growing in Indonesia

EV Hive is going up against local operators like ReWork, which raised US$3 million from Chinese up-and-comer Ucommune (formerly known as UrWork).

Other players in the archipelago include Freeware, Kolega, and Impact Hub-licensed Coworkinc. Found, which was previously called The Hub Singapore, also plans to expand to Jakarta soon.

WeWork, which is backed by SoftBank Ventures Korea’s parent SoftBank Group, recently announced two new locations in Jakarta. But Lau isn’t too worried about the US unicorn trotting into town. Its arrival validates the market’s potential, he says.

EV Hive’s focus on smaller teams of two to 10 members will further distinguish its business from WeWork’s. “They are more focused on enterprise customers,” Lau says. “Our market segment consists more of small businesses and startups that value the services we offer.” However, this still leaves the multitude of co-working providers in Indonesia that target the same small-scale customers.

The startup currently hosts about 3,500 members who rent space for a month or longer and around 5,000 daily-pass users per month. Many of those daily-pass users try out the spaces before committing, so EV Hive needs to figure out how to convert them to long-term members.

Like other companies in the market, EV Hive offers a number of community services to its members, such as networking and events organizing as well as advice and connections to its investor networks.

Indonesia is frothy because of its size, but also because of some unique real estate-related circumstances.

The company stands out in the Indonesian market because of its scale and how fast it’s growing, thinks Mario Berta, founder and CEO of Flyspaces, a startup that acts as a marketplace for co-working venues. Headquartered in the Philippines, Flyspaces works with a number of co-working spaces in Southeast Asia, including EV Hive and others in Indonesia.

“It is a homegrown national champion,” he tells Tech in Asia.

Co-working with property developers