Many startups are still thriving because of the decentralized nature of office work following the COVID-19 pandemic. OfficeRnD is a workplace management software company that aims to help businesses offer a hybrid model of offices. This means they provide flexible workspaces for staff who prefer to work in a shared physical location and not to work remotely.
The startup just closed a Series A of $10 million to expand its workplace management SaaS (software for office managers and landlords) that offers features such as resource scheduling (booking meetings rooms etc), member engagement and financial management tools via web and mobile apps.
Runa Capital is leading the Series A financing, with Flashpoint Venture Capital as well as LAUNCHub Ventures participating.
This financing will be used for OfficeRnDs marketing to increase market share and grow its partnerships.
OfficeRnD currently has over 1,000 customers who use its tools to manage more that 2,000 flexible spaces. It also offers a "work from anywhere" experience, which is used by tens and thousands of tenants and more 300,000.
It claims that its tools for coworking spaces completely automate the customer/tenant lifecycle, from preparing a contract, e-signing it, and then putting it on autobilling. Employees can book spaces and interact in other areas. Credits are available to be used to book meeting spaces. Document printing and access management systems, WiFi and document printing give them office access.
OfficeRnDs customers currently span more than 90 countries. However, the US is its largest market, accounting for approximately 45%. The EU accounts for 15%; the EU accounts 15%; the APAC account for 15% and the rest of the world.
This London-based startup was founded in 2015. It launched its first version in 2016, so many years before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. The temporary closing of all physical offices caused a partial reopening.
While its initial focus was to assist co-working spaces and commercial property in better managing their shared workspaces, the startup has seen an increase in demand from companies seeking tools to help them transition to a more flexible and hybrid workplace.
Its typical customers are co-working spaces and flex space (it claims it has approximately 800), landlords (100), but it now has 50 mid-size businesses (with between 100 and 1,000 employees) that use its tools to reconfigure office-based work.
OfficeRnD hybrid, a new product launched by OfficeRnD, is designed for corporate customers. It helps them transition from a traditional 9-5 workday to a flexible, hybrid office environment.
It says that the new funding will be heavily invested in the Hybrid Work Management offering.
There is a lot of interest in this area as many companies want their teams to work in a hybrid manner. This basically means that they want flexible working or coworking. OfficeRnD adds: We see a tremendous opportunity to transfer our knowledge to co-working spaces to corporate clients and help them use their workspaces in a way that allows their employees to be as flexible as possible.
COVID-19 was a turning point in the future of work. The startup tells TechCrunch that flexible work opened up new markets. Firstly, it said that landlords were looking for flexibility and better experiences for their tenants. Secondly, it stated that the same corporates wanted to be able offer flexibility and a better work experience to their employees.
We now have products that are available for anyone who wants to manage a flexible space and offer great workspace experiences to everyone, regardless of whether they are a landlord, co-working space, or corporation.
Over a decade ago technology has been enabling flexible work. COVID-19, Miroslav Miroslavov's co-founder, CEO and spokesperson, has only helped to accelerate that process. Our platform allows landlords, flexible workspace operators, companies, and others to engage people and manage their work on a flexible-first basis.
OfficeRnD is now extremely relevant in an industry that has been shifting to hybrid work models since the pandemic. Dmitry Chikhachev (general partner at Runa Capital), added another supporting statement. Many companies that we know have grown and kept the same office lease but now want to change how they use it and offer more opportunities for their employees.
OfficeRnD lists the likes Nexudus and Essensys as its main competitors in co-working space markets, along with Envoy, Robin, and Condeco in corporate space markets.
It argues that what sets us apart in terms of feature set and customer benefits are the ease-of-use and depth of our workspace apps (employee/member), and the level of integrations & automatizations. These are just a few of the many things that set us apart from others. It is our commitment to providing excellent customer service. We are customer-oriented and strive to go the extra mile.
The RnD bit does not stand for research and develop, but rather it stands for rooms and desks. OfficeRnD is trying to emulate AirBnB's naming style.
