THE LOFT

The Malaysian state of Penang, long regarded as the Silicon Valley of the East, has also witnessed an increase in coworking spaces.

As well as tech startups, coworking is becoming increasingly common amongst digital nomads in Asia.

Coworking spaces in India are also on the rise with Mumbai experiencing a huge surge in 2017

There are 200-odd companies offering shared office spaces in India and a sizeable chunk of them still identify themselves as startup-focused spaces. However, more providers of co-working spaces—including The Office Pass, Awfis Space Solutions, 91Springboard, InstaOffice, WhyWorks and BHIVE Workspace as well as global companies like WeWork—are positioning themselves as enterprise-focused facilities.

The Australian market has also continued to grow. Global players such as WeWork and Spaces have entered the market, challenging locally owned and operated companies such as Hub Australia and One Roof. With many independent operators opening smaller specialist sites (including in rural and regional areas of the large country like Castlemaine, Victoria), some larger providers have expanded nationwide, with the distance between major cities an asset to both the coworking provider and the community.