ZenSpace

Sharing services have significantly altered the landscapes of several business sectors as technological capabilities have allowed companies like Uber, Airbnb, and Lending Club to disrupt their respective markets.

This massive potential is present within the workplace-as-a-service sector. As the graph below highlights, the market for small meeting rooms is expected to continue to grow over the next few years and is projected to reach over $12.8 billion by 2022.

While many startups focus on flexible workspaces in the form of renting office spaces for short periods of time, Zenspace is unique in that its ZenPods are built for environments where a large number of business people are away from their offices.

For individuals in public spaces, event centers, and conventions, there exists a high demand for private, on-demand work areas. It is also estimated that nearly 40% of events and public spaces are underutilized, so there is room for Zenspace to help event planners increase their utilization rates.

1. Internet of Things Capabilities — Zenspace’s use of technology to bolster its ZenPods differentiates its product from competitive replacements. It begins with its Zenspace app that seamlessly allows users to find, schedule, and pay for their time in a pod. This video demonstrates the easy-to-use features of the app. In a world where business people are constantly relying on quick, convenient mobile tools, Zenspace excels.

Moreover, many on the go workspaces provide comfort and convenience yet lack technological prowess as they often suffer from unreliable wifi and poor video conferencing quality. Zenspace’s SmartBox solves any concerns — its patent-pending technology boasts many smart features including projection displays, video conferencing platforms, wifi, and the ability to control lighting and air conditioning levels.

Having all of these capabilities in an environment free of noise suggests that Zenspace’s superior product will consistently outperform competitors and enable the company to excel in its differentiation strategy.

2. Prominent Customers — Zenspace has established/is in the process of establishing programs with leaders across the events, public spaces, and office solutions markets. One of the main concerns with Zenspace is the necessity of forming a strong network/brand name. Without these, it will be difficult fo r ZenPods to gain popularity in the markets mentioned above.  And as seen with Uber, Airbnb, and other sharing services, the more people that use the service, the larger (and faster) the service can grow.

To tackle this challenge Zenspace works with Microsoft, Realcomm Conference Group, IMEX and IAEE (the largest exhibition and event groups), and Bespoke (co-working group).

These entities are large, rely on “on-the-go” business, and send workers away from their main offices. Zenspace has displayed that it can be successful in establishing strong relations with these entities, thus it is likely the company will be able to have a strong foothold on a large portion of its target market.

3. Revenue through Advertising — The ZenPods are uniquely designed squares with glass windows and offer a prime opportunity to gain additional revenue through selling advertisements on the physical pod.

As this image shows, advertisers would be able to stylishly display their brand and logo in very public, very visible places. Whether that is at a conference center or airport, the amount of foot traffic that would pass the pods is an incentive for companies to pay large sums to Zenspace. The multiple streams of revenue offer additional stability to Zenspace.

4. Management Experience — The Zenspace team was founded by Mayank Agrawal who is an expert in engineering, technology sales, and product development. At the core of Zenspace’s competencies lies technology, and Agrawal excels in this field.

His dedication will help ensure that Zenspace will continue to find ways to improve on its technological capabilities.

Ted Simon is a full-time consultant who has spent much of his career launching new products and building strong brands. Mark Wright is a senior product manager and field operations expert who is skilled in a wide array of technologies.

The combined expertises of these three leaders put Zenspace in a strong position to grow and develop in years to come.

Zenspace is receiving the Deal To Watch rating. It is addressing the demands of today by building a service that provides convenient, high-quality workspaces for on-the-go business people. Most importantly it meets the need of two key business stakeholders: conference attendees and co-working space participants.

The reality is, the growing importance of corporate events, and conferences drives a need for a strong remote office space solution like Zenspace, and for any co-working individual who has quickly grown to wish for an office, this provides a perfect solution.</s pan>

The upside market factors that prevent it from receiving an Top Deal status are around its lack of sophistication aka “lack of IP” differentiations and concerns around coworking companies and others adopting internally built solutions.

Regardless, its collaboration with the leaders in event planning, office spaces, and public spaces will help Zenspace spread its brand image and grasp a large customer base.

By offering a product that is superior to competitors through its use of technology, Zenspace is well-positioned to carve out a firm presence in its target markets and is a Deal To Watch worth investing in.