Deskimo
Workspaces on demand, paid by the minute.
Join the hybrid work revolution! Find professional workspaces near your home and escape the home office without wasting time on commuting. Deskimo connects the hybrid corporate workforce with quality workspaces all over Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong Kong and the UAE. 1) Deskimo is an asset-light extension of a corporate office Most companies are looking to downsize their office leases and move to a hybrid work model to save costs and provide employees greater flexibility post pandemic. 2) Deskimo is an instant access pass to all workspaces One tap in the Deskimo app generates a QR code, which gets scanned at the front desk to check in and check out. No memberships, no registrations, no long-term commitments needed. 3) The hybrid work revolution is only getting started Employees have no intention to go back to the office 5 days / week post pandemic. This will transform the way companies manage their hybrid workforce and decentralized workplace. Deskimo is at the center of this transformation.
Latest News
Active Founders
Christian Mischler, Founder
Previously co-founded & scaled GuestReady (the leading short-term rental management company in Europe and the Middle East), HotelQuickly (at the time the leading last-minute hotel booking app in Asia-Pacific), Foodpanda (Asia's largest food delivery company outside of China). Previously an In-House Consultant at Credit Suisse. Further: Swiss national; double master's degrees from the University of St.Gallen (HSG) and CEMS; Captain at the Swiss Military Intelligence; visited 100+ countries.
Raphael Cohen, Founder
Past experience: - Head of Asia, Rocket Internet - Co-Founder, Gobee.bike (2nd largest bike sharing operator outside of China) - Co-Founder, HotelQuickly (largest last-minute hotel booking app in Asia-Pacific) - Managing Director, Foodpanda Vietnam (Asia's largest food delivery company outside of China) Further: - French national - Lived in Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Vietnam, Canada, France - Speaks 7 languages and visited 100+ countries - Bachelor of Commerce, University of Toronto
Company Launches
With Deskimo, you can access 100+ professionally managed workspaces all across Singapore, Hong Kong and Indonesia without the need for a membership!
Problem
Work-from-home (WFH) is good for companies, as they can save fixed costs by reducing office leases, and it’s good for employees, as it increases flexibility and reduces commuting time.
However, most homes are not designed for work, and personal circumstances add distractions, such as your partner being on a call or watching TV, or your toddlers and pets craving for your attention.
Solution
Deskimo is complementing the WFH setup in South East Asia in a fully remote or hybrid future with near-home office options. Companies create an enterprise account on Deskimo and provide their employees a monthly budget that they can use at any of the listed workspaces on the app. As an employee, you can choose when to WFH and when to spend a few hours at a workspace to take important calls, attend a team or client meeting, or get some deep work done that requires full focus. Companies get one consolidated invoice per month and get billed only for the minutes used by their employees at any of the Deskimo workspaces.
Deskimo is now live in Singapore, Hong Kong and Indonesia, and will expand to more countries soon.
Founders
We have previously co-founded Foodpanda (the “DoorDash” of Asia), now part of Delivery Hero ($DHER). Thereafter, we were the co-founders of HotelQuicky (the “Hotel Tonight” of Asia-Pacific), which turned into an OTA generating over $100M in annual GBV (exited in 2017).
After HotelQuickly, Raphael then founded GoBeeBike, which was the leading bike sharing company in Hong Kong, before becoming the Head of Asia at Rocket Internet. Chris co-founded GuestReady, which is now the largest short-term rental management company in Europe and the Middle East.
We have made a lot of learnings in PropTech, hospitality and on-demand marketplaces. We combine these learnings with our own experience in working remotely for the most part of the past 10 years and decided to launch Deskimo in a period where most companies are moving to a hybrid work model.
Asks
We would love to get your feedback, if you happen to be living in Asia and like to work from different places. If you have friends or family in our markets, tell them about Deskimo! You can help us by testing the app:
Please send us any unfiltered feedback to founders@deskimo.com
Thank you 🙏,
Selected answers from Deskimo's original YC application for the S21 Batch
Describe what your company does in 50 characters or less.
On-demand office space billed by the minute
What is your company going to make? Please describe your product and what it does or will do.
Deskimo is a mobile app providing on-demand office space billed by the minute, targeting corporate employees, freelancers, business travellers, digital nomads, and students. It sources inventory of desks from co-working spaces, serviced offices, hotels, lounges, office sublets and helps these suppliers to increase occupancy and revenues. It contracts corporations (B2B) to grant a Deskimo budget to their workforce, enabling employees to follow a hybrid system between work-from-home and office work.
Deskimo is launching first in Singapore. It will shortly after roll-out to more cities in Asia, Australia, and Europe.