Amol Sarva is co-founder and CEO of New York-based Knotel, a flexible office provider. But this isn’t Sarva’s first start-up rodeo. After earning a doctorate in neuroscience from Stanford University, Sarva co-founded Halo Neuroscience, which invented a proprietary technology called Neuropriming used in a wearable device to improve the brain’s response to training and accelerate performance gains. He also co-founded Virgin Mobile USA and Peek, Inc., a software solution provider that develops applications for mobile communication devices.
Knotel focuses on offering flexible headquarter spaces for small- to medium-sized businesses custom-designed to reflect the companies’s own brand and culture. Knotel also provides special build-out extras as required. For instance, Knotel built a broadcast studio in the headquarters space of Cheddar, a finance news broadcaster, and installed HIPAA-compliant data security for Kota Solutions, a start-up digital technology solutions provider focused on the healthcare industry.
Similar to most co-working operators, Knotel provides educational programs for tenants and social events, but doesn’t provide freebies like a coffee bar and beer on tap. The company does, however, offer tenants a coffee service and happy hour, as well as securing meeting spaces for them as part of its on-demand management services.
After a launch of two Manhattan locations in 2015, last year the company opened 30 new locations in New York, three in San Francisco’s South of Market (SOMA) district and will soon open a location in London. Knotel also raised $25 million in 2017. The company plans to add hundreds of locations in New York, on the West Coast and throughout Europe in the coming years.