UAE Workspace Booking Platform Hotdesk Secures $1M in Seed Funding

Hotdesk, a Dubai based on-demand booking platform for workspaces, has secured $1 million in a  seed funding round led by Virtuzone, a leading regional incorporation provider for setting up office spaces, and AlZayani, a premier real estate group with a commercial property footprint in Western Europe and Northern America. The round also saw participation from several key angel investors in the region, adding to an impressive list of backers for Hotdesk, having been supported by Flat6Labs. 

The booking platform allows users to directly book workspaces, whether desks, board rooms or whole private offices for their preferred duration. On the other side of the coin, the startup’s proprietary technology gives businesses with underutilised workspaces the chance to sublet the empty space and provide additional income. Hotdesk functions on an asset-free model, acting only as a facilitator, a position that founder and CEO, Mohamed Khaled, believes puts Hotdesk in prime position to be impactful.

“We are amidst a pivotal point in history - where work and workspaces are democratised,” he said. “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.”

Khaled is the former Director of Finance at SWVL, the MENA region’s first USD 1.5 billion unicorn listed on NASDAQ through a business combination with a SPAC - experience that is enhanced by talents from PwC, Google, Careem, Delivery Hero and Rocket Internet.