Vere Loft – Offering Space to Create
Work in a nice office? Lucky you. Think yourself fortunate not to be one of a large number of freelancers, IT-specialists, designers, architects, artists, and people who are not with permanent jobs, currently suffering for the lack of a working space in Georgia. Cafes are noisy; home can be distracting, and there are no other places for them to be able to simply let their creative juices flow. Or at least there weren’t until Vere Loft opened.
Georgia’s first co-working space, Vere Loft, opened in the center of Tbilisi on January 16, 2016. One year ago, siblings Eka and David Tushishvili, after a long life abroad, returned to their homeland to find, as they said, huge potential to create and develop in various fields. “If you want a thing well done, do it yourself,” they told GEORGIA TODAY. They decided to begin to assist the country’s development and education with the creation of a workspace. For their dream work place, they chose a commercial space in a newly constructed building which was a former maternity hospital at 3 Khorava Street.
“People come here and say, ‘Hey, do you know, I was born here?’ Now the same people are able in turn to give birth in the same place- not to babies but innovative ideas,” said David Tushishvili, Co-founder of the Vere Loft.
The Vere Loft is an open workspace with separate areas, with a distinct atmosphere, design and functional content. Depending on your occupation, employees of Vere Loft will help you choose a membership specifically for you – Minimalistic, Urban, or Industrial.
“If you just need to work in a quiet atmosphere, here is an open Minimalistic area. If you have a specific job, with a lot of brainstorming and solitary work, then welcome to the Urban, where you can reserve even a whole personal desk. Moreover, if your profession requires the use of particular machinery and equipment, we have created for you an Industrial zone. Use of all our equipment is included in the membership fee,” David explained.
In addition, the Vere Loft has Corporate Membership, called Loft Corporate and a separate meeting room with individual offers for each customer. The Vere Loft itself is very flexible and provides customers with an individual approach. Prices also vary depending on the chosen package – it could be 30 Lari per day to 800 Lari per month, which includes high-speed internet, the latest equipment, licensed software and other technological innovations that are necessary and in demand for work.
One of the main distinguishing features is the working hours – the Vere Loft is open 24/7, with members welcomed at any time convenient to them. “We have customers who work for foreign companies, which are based, for example, in the US, and they have to adjust to their time zone that is why they mostly work at night here,” said Eka Tushishvili, Co-founder of the Vere Loft.
The Vere Loft has all conditions for work and inspiration: a bar full of snacks and drinks, a seating area with comfortable sofas, poufs, hammocks and a chill out room where you can also have a break and lay down to rest and read.
The gaming room, located on the second floor, have a glass wall overlooking the Minimalistic area, keeping the members involved in the working process all the time. “You watch how others work and it gives you even more energy and inspiration,” said Ruska Tskhadaia, Project Manager of the Vere Loft.
Despite the fact that the original idea was to create a pure co-working space, which involves just the renting out of workplaces, the Vere Loft creators said that their main goal is to create a professional network in the framework of co-working that will enable people of different professions to meet each other, learn, share experiences, and give advice.
“People in Georgia, of course, are a little closed and are often afraid to share their ideas. In the Vere Loft everything is different, everyone knows everything about each other. And it is profitable – experienced IT-specialists could help beginners, for example- advise, or evaluate the pros and cons in his/her work. In addition, people of different professions also can get involved in processes and come up with something new. It is the only way to launch a new idea,” said Eka.
Recently in Georgia different organizations have started to pay attention to start-ups, although it is still at the early stage of development. Considering the fact that the country’s future development begins with innovative ideas, the Vere Loft is keen to encourage such initiatives and ready to attract potential investors in their members’ projects.
“We know how challenging it is to take a loan from the bank to implement your idea, as far as investors are closed, so we are giving our members all the right conditions to make their ideas work – workspace, equipment, and people full of ideas, ready to help and support,” said David Tushishvili. “Georgia has great potential, we want to show it to people, teach, prompt and certainly give them the freedom to try.”
Eka Karsaulidze