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The Uber-for-meeting-room startup is currently participating in GnB Accelerator programme

As the workplace continues to evolve, there is a growing belief among new generation of tech professionals that the “future of work” lies beyond the office.

More companies are embracing remote working or flexible hours arrangement for its employees, allowing them to work in various locations outside of the office.

These professionals also have a strong tendency to look for meeting rooms or working spaces that are in close proximity with their meeting agenda of the day. If one considers congestion issues in big cities such as Jakarta, the decision seems to make perfect sense.

“It all begins from a demand from professionals who would usually require only one to two hours to meet to discuss their business. Due to Jakarta’s traffic jam issues and limited access to private meeting rooms, they often have to resort to coffee shops as an alternative [place] for out-of-office meetings. They need an alternative meeting room, but they don’t know how to get it,” explains William Budiharjo, COO and Founder of XWORK, in an e-mail to e27.

XWORK is a mobile app that allows users to search and book for meeting rooms and working spaces instantly.

Implementing the sharing economy concept, XWORK utilises unused meeting rooms in hotels, restaurants, and office buildings. The startup claims that the number of these unused rooms can reach up to 70 per cent, creating a window of opportunities to fulfil the demands of mobile professionals.

Also Read: How to hold remote meetings that don’t suck

Available for both Android and iOS devices, XWORK is currently able to book meeting rooms in Indonesian cities such as Jakarta, Denpasar, Bandung, Surabaya, and Balikpapan.

It claims to have at least 200 meeting rooms in Jakarta enlisted on its platform, located in hotel chain such as Swiss Belhotel, office buildings such as Sampoerna Strategic Square, even coworking spaces such as EV Hive Coworking Space.

The pricing range started from IDR50,000 (US$3.8) per hour. The meeting rooms enlisted in the platform are required to provide amenities such as –at least– full WiFi service and mineral water.

“Our greatest challenge will be how to fulfill all the needs of our partner hotels or offices,” Budiharjo explains.

Budiharjo describes professionals with strong mobility such as financial advisers, consultants, lawyers, insurance agents, architects, and property developers as XWORKS’s primary target market.

Also Read: Giving remote workers a fair shot at career advancement

XWORK is one of the six Indonesian startups participating in GnB Accelerator programme. Targetted at early stage companies, the programme is a result of partnership between Infocom Corporation and Fenox VC.

Run by a team of nine, the startup is still bootstrapping their business though they are also preparing to raise for its first funding.

“It will be great to meet an investor who fits XWORK’s business really well, because the network that they have will give an added value for XWORK,” says Budiharjo.

For 2016, the company’s big agenda revolves around product and services development itself. Apart from introducing new daily-based booking system, it also aims to make its instant booking system more efficient.

The post Welcoming the future of work: Indonesia’s XWORK rides on the wave of mobile working trend appeared first on e27.

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