Behind Awfis’ Premiumisation Bid To Capture The GCC Boom

Since becoming the first new-age coworking space provider to list in India, Awfis has steadily grown its top line while improving profitability. In Q4 FY26, the company more than doubled its profit YoY to ₹23.2 Cr, while operating revenue rose 20% to ₹410.1 Cr.

The company has managed to sustain growth by continuously experimenting with its business model and reshaping its positioning within the flexible workspace market.

Awfis’ strategy so far has been centred around its managed aggregation (MA) model, where it leases properties directly from owners and operates them as managed workspaces while sharing revenue and costs with landlords. 

The MA model offers higher capital efficiency, but also limits the revenue Awfis can generate per centre. Moreover, institutional developers have traditionally preferred direct leasing arrangements rather than sharing risks with operators, particularly when demand for their properties remains high.

As a result, Awfis historically built strength in the affordable end of the market rather than the premium office segment. That, however, is beginning to change.

GCC Demand Reshapes The Market

Brokerage Choice Institutional Equities attributed Awfis’ Q4 performance to strong GCC demand, premiumisation of centres, and operating leverage in a report recommending the stock.

The broader industry is seeing a similar trend. Competitor Smartworks said in its Q4 earnings report that 70-80% of demand is now being driven by GCCs. Similar commentary also came from rivals WeWork India and IndiQube in their FY26 earnings calls.

India is now home to the world’s largest GCC ecosystem, with over 2,100 centres generating nearly $100 Bn in revenue, according to a Nasscom-Zinnov report. These GCCs have evolved beyond low-cost outsourcing hubs into full-fledged capability centres handling technology, product support, analytics, and other core business functions.

Flex workspace operators are emerging as natural partners for this segment. Mid-market and sub-mid-market GCCs, in particular, prefer flexible office spaces due to lower upfront capex requirements and the ability to scale office capacity on demand.

Awfis Tweaks Its Supply Strategy

For Awfis, attracting GCC demand requires a sharper focus on Grade A institutional supply. As a result, the company is now doubling down on this.

“Global enterprises and GCCs evaluating India today are making decisions based on asset quality, compliance credentials, and infrastructure standards that meet global benchmarks,” Awfis MD and CEO Amit Ramani told Inc42.

According to Ramani, more than 60% of Awfis’ new supply signed in FY26 came from institutional landlords, while all new centres launched during the year were located in Grade A or A+ assets.

Besides helping Awfis tap into the GCC demand engine, these properties also support better commercial structures and longer-term partnerships. Ramani described them as the “natural home” for the company’s premium Elite and Gold centre formats, which it is now actively scaling. The company currently operates 35 premium centres.

Awfis is also increasing the size of its centres to attract larger enterprise clients. Centres added in FY25 and FY26 are 20% larger than its legacy portfolio, while facilities with more than 500 seats now account for 37% of the portfolio.

In addition, the company has started using forward leasing as a strategic tool to secure under-construction Grade A properties in prime micro-markets ahead of competitors. It is also working on a new developer partnership model, under which institutional developers share capex costs while Awfis manages operations.

Balancing Growth With Profitability

While premium assets can raise costs, Awfis is trying to maintain a balanced approach by optimising supply additions for revenue per seat instead of merely increasing seat count.

One key initiative is its Partial Managed Office model. Under this strategy, the company signs new properties only when 40-70% of seats are already anchored by enterprise or GCC clients.

“We have introduced Partial Managed Office as a structural innovation… This compresses the occupancy ramp, improves Day 1 revenue visibility, and de-risks the economics meaningfully,” Ramani said.

The strategy is already contributing meaningfully to the business. GCC clients now account for 23% of Awfis’ rental revenue, with more than 100 GCC clients onboarded so far. The company also claims to have additional GCC mandates in the pipeline.

However, competition is intensifying. Rivals such as WeWork India, Smartworks, and Table Space are all aggressively chasing the same opportunity as India’s flexible workspace market enters its next phase of growth. The key question now is whether Awfis can position itself to capture the largest share of the GCC boom.

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