With the number of coworking spaces we already have in Klang Valley, you might be wondering why Singaporean coworking space Found8 has entered Malaysia.
According to the team, Malaysia’s growing pool of high potential startups has attracted their eye, and Found8 wants to offer them the opportunity to access investors and VC funds from Singapore.
Found8 has 5 branches in Singapore, so their KL branch will be their sixth one total, and their first overseas one.
Set Up In A Strategic Location
Found8 has a network of over 22,000 innovation-centric individuals comprising startups and scale-ups, investors, corporates, and innovation experts as well as professional services firms that support its members’ business growth.
Grace and Michelle, Found8’s co-founders, have a combined experience of over 10 years in bridging the gap between the traditional corporates/family business world and the startup, tech, and VC world.
Found8 chose to set up in KL Sentral because of its location as a connecting hub in the middle of the city. KL Sentral is full of travellers, international and local, and Found8’s establishment there presents an easily accessible working and meeting location for someone who’s travelling for work.
“Stepping off the plane into a conductive workspace or simply booked meeting rooms within 28 minutes from the airport to our doors is exactly what we wanted to provide Singapore members, and future KL members looking to expand across Asia,” Laura Fitzpatrick, Growth Manager at Found8, explained.
Some local names who have already made Found8 KL Sentral their home are StartupMamak, ScaleUp Malaysia, GoGet, LawTech, and RunCloud.
A Focused Approach To Business Growth
If you’re looking for a coworking space where you can focus only on work, Found8 KL Sentral could be what you’re looking for, as it’s a pretty no-frills coworking space.
There, you won’t find a gaming area, napping rooms, or a gym. Each room is designed for work, meetings, and overall business growth.
Found8 KL Sentral even has a dedicated Member Success team that does regular one-on-one check-ins with their members.
This is done to understand members’ business needs and introduce them to relevant people (investors, mentors, industry partners or even governments) who can help grow their business.
So far, Found8 KL Sentral has held two Meet the VC Speed Dating events that were held in conjunction with its soft launch and official launch in August and October, respectively.
Laura told us, “We matched 20 leading investors mostly from Singapore with over 50 startups mostly from Malaysia and are excited that many are continuing discussions after the event.”
“We understand that access to funding is critical to the success of startups, and these types of events are our way of helping our members and the wider community connect to investors,” she added.
Design That Gets Straight To The Point
The space’s design is inspired by the very station it resides in. Even the map of its layout looks like a transit map, the kind you’d find in an MRT station.
What you would probably notice upon stepping into the space is the abundance of rooms. To your left and right as you walk through Found8 KL Sentral’s main working area are rooms of different sizes, for smaller startups up to larger corporates.
The frosted glass walls of the rooms give a sense of openness while still providing some privacy to its occupants.
Decorations in Found8 KL Sentral are kept on the minimal side, with more emphasis on greenery as an accent.
There are also multiple phone booths located near the communal working areas for when you need silence and privacy for a call.
In an area called The Saloon, you can grab a coffee and have a casual chat with fellow entrepreneurs around the bar or in a cosy booth.
If I had to describe Found8 KL Sentral’s space in one word, it’d be ‘compact’. Most of the space is used for various rooms and communal desks, which really emphasises the point that getting work done is the main purpose here.
Choosing The Right Membership
At Found8 KL Sentral, you have a choice of 4 monthly membership options.
There’s the Hotdesk Lite at RM390 which lets you access the space 10 days a month, and for those who are more committed, you can choose Hotdesk Unlimited for RM490.
A Dedicated Desk costs RM690, and a Team Room for 5 pax starts at RM795 per pax. If you simply want a day to try it out before properly committing to the proper memberships, you can get a Day Pass for RM60.
Currently, Found8 KL Sentral has a special launch promotion where you can get up to 4 months of free Hotdesk membership and up to 2 months of free Team Room membership.
For all members, meeting rooms are free to use as long as they’re not already booked, and the usage time is capped at 1 hour per meeting.
According to Laura, Found8 KL Sentral members can work for free at a Hotdesk in any of its Singaporean locations for up to 3 days per month, and vice versa.
Since Found8 plans to launch in 3 more countries within the next 3 years, members may soon be able to work in more locations than just Malaysia and Singapore.
- You can find out more about Found8 KL Sentral here.
- Found8 KL Sentral can be located at 5, Jalan Stesen Sentral, East Wing, Level 3 Kuala Lumpur Sentral, Kuala Lumpur 50470.
- You can read more about what we’ve written on other coworking spaces here.
Featured Image Credit: Found8 KL
