JP/Corry Elyda

Greater Jakarta has been seeing an increase in coworking spaces to accommodate the needs of young businesspeople for not only affordable office space but also a support system that can help them rise. Here are five of dozens of coworking spaces:

Code Margonda

Located in Depok, West Java, Code Margonda has over 200 startup companies and communities that regularly rent space in its two-story building, for work or to hold meetings. Code charges Rp 125,000 (US$8.7) for communities and Rp 350,000 for companies to use a space and Internet for four hours. Companies can also use Code Margonda as their office address and phone contact. Companies and communities can register online to rent office space. They can also check availability at codemargonda.com.

COMMA

Comma (Collaboration Matters) at Jl. Wolter Monginsidi No. 63B, Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta, claims to be the first coworking space in the capital. It was initiated in November 2012 by household-name entrepreneurs such as Rene Suhardono, Yoris Sebastian and Dondi Hananto. Comma has a capacity to hold 40 people, a meeting room and other supporting facilities, including private lockers and Wi-Fi '€” all provided at rates ranging from Rp 90,000 per three hours to Rp 3.1 million per month.

Creative Room at Historia

While most coworking spaces in the capital are located in South Jakarta or Slipi, West Jakarta, the Creative Room at Historia is located in tourist destination Old Town in West Jakarta. The Creative Room at Historia, which has a capacity of around 50 people, is expected to officially open in early 2016. Besides providing work space, the Creative Room at Historia also enables people working on different but related projects to cooperate. Creative Room at Historia aims to accommodate various creative industry players such as architects, performing and visual artists, photographers and designers.

EV Hive

EV Hive is a coworking space that was established in June 2015 by venture capital (VC) firm East Ventures (EV), among the most active VC firms in Southeast Asia whose portfolio includes leading Jakarta-based digital startups marketplace Tokopedia, travel store Traveloka and Tech in Asia. EV Hive offers weekly Tech Talks and Biz Talks, with EV startup elites as speakers. '€œThese events bring together a list of EV portfolio entrepreneurs who share their specific knowledge and know-hows. Knowledge sharing is our core value,'€ East Ventures community relations officer Dewi Yuliani said. The space charges Rp 150,000 per day, while shared space prices vary based on filled quota. EV Hive is located at The Maja at Jl. Kyai Maja No. 39 in South Jakarta.

Teras Kita

Six organizations and companies in the field of digital activism came together to create their own coworking space in 2013. The coworking space, dubbed Teras Kita (Our Porch) on Jl. Mimosa in Pejaten, South Jakarta is now home to online petition site change.org, crowd funding site kitabisa.com, volunteer manager indorelawan.org, youth organization Pamflet, Public Virtue Institute for digital democracy and civic activism and women'€™s organization on conflict issue Peace Women Across the Globe (PWAG) Indonesia.

Campaign associate at change.org Dhenok Pratiwi said there were advantages to organizations and companies sharing an office as one organization was usually manned by only two to nine people.

'€œWe basically work in the same field, which is digital activism, so we often have joint projects,'€ she said.

Dhenok said they were currently working on a crowdfunding initiative to raise money to provide their janitor'€™s son with a scholarship. '€œWe can gather Rp 10 million [$700] from donations from people in the office,'€ she said.

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