The budding middle class in India is ushering in a new wave of freelancers, entrepreneurs, and small business owners. Currently, there are more than 15 million Indian freelancers.
To meet the demands of this growing market, Innov8 is building coworking campuses across India that offer amenities like high-speed internet, 24x7 access with power backup and easy access to public transportation.
“In an average day in India, the Internet will go down four or five times, or power will go out, or the water stops running,” says Shailesh Gupta, co-founder of Innov8. “But at Innov8 we have three wifi systems so you can continue to do your work even if the first or second wifi network goes down.”
We believe the community that forms on Innov8’s campuses will help strengthen the Indian startup ecosystem. Innov8 has already seen its members starting to work together. Video producer Moin Khadri, one of the first members in the New Delhi campus, grew his revenues from $500 to $4,500 after other members started using his service.
Since opening it’s first center 6 months ago, Innov8 operates at nearly full capacity since launch with significant waitlist to their centers. They will soon expand to other metro cities, and aim to become the premier coworking space in every major developing city around the world.
What YC Likes About Innov8:
"This is a simple equation - there are a growing number of freelancers, creative workers, and small business workers who need flexible office space in India. Ritesh and Shailesh have experienced the problem first hand and solving it."
Michael Seibel, Partner, Y Combinator
About the Founders:
Ritesh, 26, is the CEO of Innov8. He is a doctor turned entrepreneur. He sold his augmented reality startup Alive App to Times of India in 2013.
Shailesh, 27, is the COO of Innov8. Previously, he worked with the Indian government on world’s largest digital identification project and has scaled technology businesses. He is graduate from IIT.
Sumit, 26, is the chief community officer of Innov8. Previously, he built Thinkpot, a motivational e-commerce site, with Ritesh while at Harvard.