Offices post-pandemic are gearing up for the new normal where social distancing, cleanliness and hygiene are given the topmost priority. Even managing the number of employees in office spaces are regulated closely. However, when it comes to tracking employees’ movement, checking the office capacity and even booking desks and other such activities, companies such as Worksphere come to the rescue.
Worksphere is a company that deals significantly with the automation of how desks are booked and the duration to which it’s being used. Furthermore, tracking the hygiene and other standards followed by all the employees of a particular office can be monitored. With such intrusive features, Venture Mirror had the unique opportunity to have an interview with Aakhil Fardeen, CEO of Worksphere, to tell us more about the company and everything about it. Learn more from a detailed conversation given below.
What is the startup / product / venture about? Give us a brief description of it.
Description
Worksphere is the easiest way to realize the full potential of a hybrid in-office/remote workplace. Welcome your employees back to a better office with easy desk reservations, automated wellness surveys, and usage data to right-size your workplace.
The Problem
Your employees want flexibility to work from where they are most productive post-pandemic, and want a safe office to collaborate with others. But it’s hard to know who’s in office when, and how much office space you actually need.
The Solution
With Worksphere, your employees can easily book their own in-office time, and you can track workspace utilization data to right-size your office. We automate your safe office entry, help meet local regulatory requirements, and give your employees confidence that they are your top priority.
How many co-founders are there? Please introduce them and their backgrounds.
Aakhil (CEO) and Mark (CTO) met while working at Amazon. They previously founded Lish, a corporate catering marketplace and grew it to > $12M in ARR. Theresa (Growth) joined them at Lish as their Director of Operations & Customer Success. Worksphere was founded at the start of the coronavirus pandemic to address the emerging trend of flexible workplaces.
How did you come up with the idea? What motivated you to do this?
In our last startup, our primary clients were office/facilities managers who oversee workplace experience. Our relationships with them gave us front row seats to the upcoming transformation of workplaces. We worked hand in hand with an advisory group of HR, Facilities, and Office Managers from 12 of those companies to design and build Worksphere.
The trend toward a flexible workplace model was already underway pre-pandemic, but the number of companies adopting that as a permanent model has massively accelerated. According to Adecco Group’s survey, 75% of employees want a split of office and remote schedules, and 80% of executives believe that offering increased flexibility is good for business. People are not planning to run their offices the same way post-pandemic. We built Worksphere to help them maximize the benefits of this massive shift in the way we work.
Who is your target market? Why do you think your product will appeal to them?
We have over a dozen businesses using Worksphere already and we are seeing adoption among mid-size businesses across industries. Our first few customers include a Seattle-based AI firm, a Dallas utility consulting firm, an LA based mobile advertising firm
The ease of use and affordability is most appealing to our customers.
Who are your competitors? How are you different from them?
Existing workplace management tools (iOffice, Robin, or SpaceIQ) are costly and cumbersome. They’re made for large enterprises that have dedicated facilities teams managing the office space. They take weeks to months to onboard.
We have taken a different approach. Worksphere is self-service, and a single Office admin can have their company up and running in under an hour.
What are the future plans with the product/startup? Any new features you are planning on?
We are focused on on making ultra simple desk booking that makes it easy to sit with, and collaborate with your coworkers on the days that you go to the office.
We have a lot of new innovation in the pipeline but nothing we are able to share at the moment.