Start-ups volunteer to lend workspace

With water now having receded in many areas, life has started returning to normalcy. People are getting on with their daily lives. However, there are many who still cannot access the Internet, and many offices have been severely damaged. A group of young professionals have come together to help people who are in need of office space. 

There is an excel sheet being uploaded online that has names, numbers and other details of organisations that are allowing an open workplace. Around 21 organisations listed their premises on the Excel worksheet at the time this paper went to print. The Startup Centre, Neel Software, Halbe Innovations, Freshdesk, Siam Computing and ShieldSquare are some of the companies that have registered. 

“This is to support the start-up community. Those who work with international clients cannot afford to shut shop for two weeks. It’s not good for the business. So, those who have extra space in their premises are giving it out to those who need it,” says a representative of Neel Software. 

Apart from the name, address of the organisation and the telephone numbers, the sheet also lists the number of seats available and other facilities like WiFi, conference rooms and even coffee machines. Sonaal Bangera, co-founder of NFN Labs, says, “We are a team of 30 and we have space to accommodate six more people. Since the list was posted online, we have received three or four calls,” he says. 

There are many people out there who have allowed people to work at their premises. For instance, a Nungambakkam resident who has Wifi, two laptops and a desktop at his place has allowed people to come over and work till late in the night.