Co-working spaces have become increasingly popular

Aleph Labs has become one of the first clients of WeWork, the US-based startup, with a total value of $20 billion in 2017. It officially entered the Vietnamese market last week.

Uyen Nguyen, CEO of Alepth Labs, a software firm with 400 workers present in seven Asian cities, said she decided to move from A-class office to WeWork because of the visual uniformity. Most workers at Alepth Labs are young who need a creative and highly interactive environment.

WeWork’s first co-working space, set at E-Town Central Building in district 4, will be open in December, while two more spaces expected to come out in HCMC and Hanoi in 2019.

While the customers of WeWork’s rivals are mostly startups and freelancers, the customers of WeWork are large-scale firms with 45 percent of firms having more than 1,000 workers.

According to Turochas Fuad, CEO of WeWork ASEAN, the rental in Vietnam is second highest in ASEAN, just below Singapore, which shows that it is a market with great potential and demand.

After three years of operation, Toong established a network with 10 co-working spaces in Hanoi and HCMC (Vietnam), Vientiane (Laos) and Phnom Penh (Cambodia). 

Pham Thuy Linh, marketing & branding director of Toong said the total floor area Toong would provide by the end of this year could reach 20,000 square meters.

Linh said though this is a new type of office, co-working spaces have been lauded by youth and technology firms, helping Toong connect a 3,500-member community of individuals and businesses, from startups, small & medium sized enterprises to large corporations.

Toong’s clients have 1-1,000 workers, operating in 36 business fields, from finance, healthcare, education, tourism and NGOs. 

Turochas Fuad said that young people are changing their working modes. They tend to work in large cities, and seek communities for connection and creativity . There are up to 60 million people in Vietnam below aged 35.

“Vietnam is one of the fastest growing economies in the world and in ASEAN. It is now the right time for us to exploit the market,” he said. 

Tu Thi Hong An from Alpha King, which owns the Atlas brand, said the co-working market now has the biggest ever potential for development.

“Everything, from design, resources to functions of offices, will change completely in the coming years. If we pay attention to the factors promoting the needs and requirements of modern tenants, the opportunities will prove to be endless,” she said.

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