Coworking spaces have a growing attraction for startups. That’s because they allow multiple businesses to share office space and facilities, including meeting rooms, receptions, internet connection, and more. It lets burgeoning enterprises enjoy lower costs on physical offices and top-rate residence services.
There are several dozen of these coworking spaces located across Nigeria. Not surprisingly, Lagos, the country’s startup capital, has the biggest concentration of coworking spaces of any city in the country.
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So if you’re an entrepreneur in Lagos who’s hunting for the perfect home for your business, you may be bewildered by the options you have.
We intend this article to narrow the field down a bit and make it easier for you to choose. Here, we’ll review our picks for the top ten coworking spaces in Lagos, listed in no particular order.
Co-Creation Hub
Co-Creation Hub is recognized as a pioneer social innovation centre. Founded in 2010 by Bosun Tijani and Femi Longe, it opened in 2011, at the start of Nigeria’s startup boom.
The hub is located in a six-floor building in Yaba and hosts several startup entrepreneurs and teams. It has workspaces, a meeting room, lounge, event place, and library. There’s also a paved outdoor area on the building’s rooftop.
Leadspace
This hub was founded in 2016, by Olufunbi and Taiwo Ajetumobi (they had previously started the Passion Accelerator).
Leadspace is present in multiple locations. There’s one in Yaba, the city’s startup centre, another in Ojodu, and a third, Hub One, set up in partnership with FCMB. These locations provide office spaces for entrepreneurs and business executives, conference rooms, dedicated desks, and event spaces.
The plans offered by Leadspace are flexible, and users have plenty of options to choose from.
Cranium One
Launched in 2016, Cranium One is located in upscale Victoria Island. Its founder, Olaotan Towry-Coker, says he’s always worked well when he’s collaborated with others and believes that Cranium One would work similarly well for its users.
Its shared spaces are principally designed for entrepreneurs and freelancers. Facilities available include high-end office spaces, fixed desks, hot desks, filing storage, shared receptionist, counter services, and various utilities.
The setup of Cranium One enables private work, collaboration, and sharing—things often key to productivity.
Seedspace
Seedspace is the coworking venture of Seedstars, a Switzerland-based group that supports tech startups in emerging markets. There are two Seedspaces in Lagos, part of a global network of coworking spaces across the world owned by this group. They’re run as a means of connecting with local tech ecosystems in the countries they’re situated.
Seedspace GrowthLab, one of the two centres in Lagos, has a unique, glass-predominant design that leaves an impression on visitors. Facilities include offices, fixed and flexible desks, meeting rooms, and a café.
Most of its users are tech startups, but there’s room for businesses in other industries.
Venia Business Hub
The Venia Business Hub was founded in 2016 by Kola Oyeneyin. It opens its doors to a variety of users—freelancers, small businesses, startups, and multinationals. There’s a space tailored for each of these user types, plus facilities that can be shared by several entrepreneurs and teams.
This coworking space offers flexible plans, access to a large number of entrepreneurs, fast internet connection, and concierge services. Meeting rooms, training venues, virtual offices, and serviced offices are all available.
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Besides its main location, Venia Business Hub also has several places across Lagos—which it calls InstaSpaces –that serve as office and meeting spaces for businesses.
Workstation
Fareed and Farouk Arogundade launched Workstation in 2016 to serve what they believed was a fast-growing freelancer and startup population in Lagos. In the years that have followed, Workstation has come to rank amongst the top coworking spaces in the city.
Workstation is present in two locations: one in Maryland and another in Victoria Island. Both offer fixed and flexible plans and have a range of facilities accessible to members. They include meeting and conference rooms, and also cafes, kitchens, and nap rooms.
A recent count puts the membership number of this coworking space at over 4,000.
Impact Hub
Founded in 2017 by Solape Hammond and Bolaji Finnih, Impact Hub exists to enable entrepreneurs to work in an environment that motivated them to be productive. It’s part of a global community of hubs, including several dozen situated elsewhere in the world.
The hub hosts a diverse membership, including startups and executives at large companies. Facilities here include offices, coworking areas, event space, and a hardware lab.
The Village
This Yaba-based co-working space serves startups, SMEs, and large companies. Founded in 2017, it operates with the aim of building an ecosystem of forward-looking businesses, and enabling innovation.
For a working space sited in Yaba, its prices and flexible offerings are attractive for the many ventures seeking a home in the famed district. It guarantees conducive offices, a fast internet connection, and a stable power supply.
V8 Valley
Tobi Oke and Ugo Okoye launched V8 Valley in 2016 to provide affordable infrastructure as a service to startups in Lagos. It was set up as the first investment of V8 Capital Partners, a venture capital firm.
Situated in Lekki, the hub has grown into one of the more preferred of the city’s coworking spaces.
The facilities at V8 include meeting and training rooms, private offices, high-grade Wi-Fi and internet, an uninterrupted power supply, dedicated front desks, and breakout spaces to receive guests.
WorkBox
WorkBox provides fully-serviced private executive offices, coworking spaces and conference facilities, and spaces for freelancers and business services. Its monthly payment plans are in contrast to what’s available from traditional office rentals and allow for greater financial flexibility.
There are also daily and weekly plans for freelancers and businesses that can’t take the monthly offer. Conference rooms can be rented even by non-tenants, subject to prior booking.
Final Words
Lagos is home to some of the most productive and vibrant entrepreneurs in Nigeria. It’s only fitting that they should be served by the country’s best coworking spaces. We have touched on ten of those spaces here. If you’re seeking one, the options we’ve presented are worth looking up.
Featured image source: Accounteer
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