With Hybrid working’s here to stay, this startup offers employees of corporations their ‘third workplace’

The worst thing that could happen for a co-working community is not being able to bring people together. Needless to say, the pandemic and ensuing lockdowns left co-working spaces scrambling. But now the doors are back open. And with many people being forced to work from home for an extended period, new ones have opened as well. That is why Amsterdam-based YourDesq is encouraging entrepreneurs, companies and employees to take advantage of their newfound freedom.

Right idea at the right time

YourDesq is an online platform where anyone can get access to flexible workspaces or meeting rooms. The site offers day passes for offices all over the Netherlands. Co-working spaces can sign up for the platform to attract a new crowd, but it also offers companies with empty offices or hotels with empty meeting rooms the opportunity to get some butts into their seats. 

The company was founded in November 2020 by young entrepreneurs Wouter van den Brink, Raymond Joore and Esmée Clewits. At first sight, YourDesq seems like a logical reaction to the pandemic. An idea born in a world where office life is redesigned. Clewits, however, thought of YourDesq well before anyone had heard of COVID-19. 

“I got the outline of the idea when I was finishing up my master’s degree in Barcelona”, she says. “I liked to work in meeting rooms of hotels. But there was no way to get easy access for just a day. There were always many hurdles to overcome.” That idea lived on until November 2020 – well into the pandemic – until Clewits and her co-founders made it into a business. Half a year later, there was an MVP, now they are up and running in 13 cities in the Netherlands.

COVID’s influence on YourDesq

Despite COVID not having anything to do with the initial idea, it did influence the market for YourDesq says Clewits. “COVID-19 gave hybrid working a massive boost. YourDesq is not the result of the pandemic, but it did play a role in our business proposition.”

Not being able to get together for over a year was challenging for many businesses, which had to implement a working-from-home strategy almost overnight. And with everyone staying at home, the coworking communities whose entire business model relied on people showing up to work, had to adapt. Now that restrictions are loosened in the Netherlands, a booking platform like YourDesq can attract extra business.

The rise of third workplace

Another important target group for the prop-tech startup are SMEs and corporates, explains Clewits. “Employees want more responsibility, we’ve seen that shift happening before the pandemic. The lockdown has proven people can be productive, while also maintaining a healthy work-life balance. Many employers want to facilitate that for their employees.” A third workplace emerges. Less hassle and travel than working at the office, more productive and professional than the couch at home.

However, not all companies want their people to just work from wherever. “There are many corporates that have certain conditions for the place of work. They don’t want their people working on a publicly available network in the coffeehouse around the corner. At YourDesq, they can find professional workspaces that fit their needs. Hosts can specify on their listing page what they offer to ease the search.”

Targeting SMEs and corporates

YourDesq is currently in talks with several SMEs to join their platform and offer employees a more flexible way of organising their workweek. The large corporations are a slightly different story, Clewits has noticed. “We see that change takes a bit more time at large organisations. They are also looking at each other, seeing what the others are doing.” In larger organisations, it is also unclear who should be responsible to facilitate a hybrid way of working. “Is it something HR should take up or facility management? It’s tricky to appoint that role.”

However, Clewits thinks that employers should realise by now that more flexibility in choosing one’s workspace has many benefits. “Last week, the news reported there were hundreds of kilometres of traffic jams in the country for the first time since the pandemic started. It’s so unnecessary. It all eats away from the time people could spend at home or the office. Not to mention the environmental impact and the stress levels of people sitting in traffic.”

Looking for funding to scale up

Having more people working from home would also mean more empty desks at offices around the country. “We have several entrepreneurs renting out empty office space on our platform. This would also be a way corporations can solve structural vacancy of their real estate.”

To help corporations do so, YourDesq has ambitions that would require funding. “We’re in talks with several informal investors. We were looking for €1 million, but with 650K we would have a runway of 12 months.” After less than half a year, YourDesq already has workspaces available in 12 different cities in the Netherlands, mostly in the densely populated western part of the country. They aim to go international somewhere within the next three years. Clewits: “We have a product that is easy to scale and easy to bring across the border.”