Last month our friends over at Econsultancy posted an article by Greig Holbrook on adapting SEO for BRIC markets. In the post, Greig highlights that in these areas where there will be more than 1.2 billion web-users by 2015, SEOs should be adapting for a wider variety of search engines other than Google, and all with quite different method for ranking, crawling sites and dealing with online content. With this in mind, and knowing how important coworking is to emerging search and digital start-ups, we decided to dedicate the fourth of our Great Minds series to the current coworking opportunities in the BRIC markets.
Brazil
With a population verging on 200 million and a fast-growing mobile market, Brazilian coworking spaces have been founded in – amongst other places – Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, and are set for opening in more outlying cities such as Curitiba. The well established BeesOffice in Rio de Janeiro offers room for 30 coworkers in a space originally inspired by the behaviour of bees – and includes a conference room, lounge, and a number of perks and home comforts. Pto de Contato of Sao Paulo currently has two offices within the city and prides itself on appealing to those who do not fit into traditional corporate standards.
Russia
As is perhaps expected, many Russian coworking spaces are located in Moscow. The 260sq.m. Communist Loft boasts a world class creative office to accommodate individuals and enterprises of any size whilst community site: http://www.officeshare.ru/ is a great place to find details of emerging spaces around Moscow. Additionally, spaces such as RostovUnderground Open Space in Rostov-na-Donu are emerging to help prospective collaborators in areas beyond the capital.
India
As Greig mentions in his article, the rise in social media is inspiring many search specialists to think social when it comes to SEO in India, and areas around Delhi and Goa have seen an emerging digital scene. When it comes to coworking, Delhi may well be home to India’s Jelly meetup, but it is Bangalore in the south of the country which appears to be taking collaborative work to the next level. OpenCommune has been established to bring ‘cafe-like community/collaboration space within a shared office environment for entrepreneurs and freelancers,’ while Jaaga not only offers coworking and events space but accommodation is also available for those who want to use the facilities.
China
In-keeping with China’s vibrant and fast advancing digital scene, coworking really appears to be well established in the country, with Hong Kong and the surrounding area seeming to be at the forefront (BootHK is a good example). Further north in Shanghai, new space Xindanwei really caught our eye as it not only offers ample modern work space and places to relax and hold events, but there are also exhibition opportunities and salon spaces too. Consequently, the space has hosted a number of big-name clients such as TED screenings and workshops by MIT Media Lab Scratch.
