• Dubai-based on-demand workspace booking platform Hotdesk has raised a $1 million seed funding round, led by Virtuzone with participation from AlZayani Investments through its Zayani Venture Capital arm alongside angel investors Youssef Salem, Swvl’s CFO and Khaled AlFahim, board member in Abu Dhabi’s Chamber of Commerce and at Berlin’s Black Lane.

• Founded in 2020 by Mohamed Khaled, who until recently was the finance director at Swvl, Hotdesk creates an opportunity for businesses with underutilised workspaces to generate additional revenue through subletting their vacant office space as on-demand workspaces.

• The startup was previously backed during its early stages by Flat6Labs.

• During its soft launch to date, Hotdesk claims to have generated over $100,000 in gross bookings, acquired more than 1500 users, and 3,000+ rooms and areas from across 55 cities in EMEA. 

Press release:

Hotdesk, a Dubai based provider of transformative shared workspace offerings, today announced that it has raised a $1 million seed funding round to transform how people work. 

The on-demand workspace booking platform enables users to instantly find and book workspaces. Hotdesk’s platform has multiple offerings - desks, meeting rooms and private offices by the hour, day, month, or year. The proprietary technology creates an opportunity for businesses with underutilised workspaces to sublet their vacant office space and generate additional revenue. Hotdesk’s hosts range from coworking spaces, shared offices, hotel business centres, and vacant furnished commercial office spaces.

Mohamed Khaled, the founder & CEO of Hotdesk was recently involved as Director of Finance at Swvl in the Middle East’s first $1.5 billion unicorn to list on NASDAQ through a business combination with a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (“SPAC”), and was part of the core de-SPAC transaction execution team. Hotdesk has garnered significant talent from PwC, Delivery Hero, Rocket Internet, Google, and Careem - all with the vision to revolutionise how people work. 

Hotdesk runs an asset-free model where it does not own or lease any of its workspaces but rather consolidates the scattered market of empty commercial real estate on one platform. 

The $1 million funding round is led by Virtuzone, the largest incorporation provider for companies setting up offices in the region. AlZayani Investments, a leading real estate group with a significant commercial property footprint in Western Europe and North America, has participated in the round through their Venture Capital arm ZVC (Zayani Venture Capital).

High Profile Angel Investors who participated in the round in their personal capacity include Youssef Salem - Swvl’s CFO whose background is in investment banking as Executive Director at Moelis & Company and who was featured in Forbes 30 under 30 earlier this month, and Khaled AlFahim - who is a Board Member in Abu Dhabi’s Chamber of Commerce, Board Member at Berlin’s Black Lane, and Ex-Board Member in Al Fahim Group in Abu Dhabi who own a hotel and hospitality portfolio and are serial startup investors. 

The startup was previously backed during its early stages by Flat6Labs, the MENA region’s leading accelerator.

Mohamed Khaled, Founder & CEO of Hotdesk:  “We are amidst a pivotal point in history - where work and workspaces are democratised. Hybrid models are the future, and Hotdesk falls right in between giving the comfort of working from home, yet being able to socialise, be equipped, and without the daunting corporate office experience. Businesses have become smarter and leaner post-covid, and no one wants a 5-year unfurnished lease anymore. Plug-and-play scalable workspace solutions are the way forward. Our core mission is to help people unleash their productivity, and give our hosts a chance to better utilise their unused commercial real estate assets.

Neil Petch, Chairman and co-founder of Virtuzone, said: “Exploring innovative solutions that can advance entrepreneurship has always been one of our fundamental objectives. We see great potential in the workspace solutions that Hotdesk brings, and these align with our goals to remove barriers to entrepreneurship and make it a lot easier to start and do business in the UAE and abroad. With the capabilities that Hotdesk is offering to the corporate market, it can very well become the Airbnb of workspaces.” 

Hotdesk is set to feature in Lisbon, Portugal’s WebSummit next November.