Coworking on the Rise: Are Coworking Spaces Capable of Filling the Gap in Modernizing the Iraqi Business Community?

This article originally appeared in the fourth issue of Five One Review.

As internet and technology penetration advances in Iraq, startups, and users alike move towards digitalization. Businesses operate online, and in-person interactions are not always necessary to ensure growth. This change also demands a fast-paced shift in the perception of how startups operate. Tech startups and online businesses are in less need of physical office spaces with large signs at the door to show their brand, and their websites and social media pages can reach customers faster and more conveniently. With these changes in mind, two questions that arise are “Are coworking spaces capable of filling the gap in modernizing the Iraqi business community? Can entrepreneurs rely on the services provided by the shared spaces across the country to do business more efficiently?"

The rise of coworking spaces across Iraq since 2018 has proven that the answer to these questions is a resounding yes! Five One Labs’ Sulaimani coworking space, The Lab:Suli, which opened in 2018, currently hosts five startups, as well as the Five One Labs Sulaimani team and all 18 of the entrepreneurs of our latest incubator program, which creates a dynamic environment for collaboration. These entrepreneurs come from different backgrounds and work in different industries, from medical businesses and fintech startups to a marketing agency and a restaurant and food review platform. The startups find value in using a coworking space, as it brings them closer to other businesses in the same stage as them, while the space itself creates a productive environment for its members without costing them so much that it inhibits their growth.

“Seeing other people work motivates me to focus on my projects more, but I also don’t feel the need to escape the office. I am more inclined to be around my teammates and get our work done… Cafes are distracting, costly, and inconvenient.” - Bahast Hemn: Entrepreneur, Member at The Lab:Suli?

The Lab:Suli in Sulaimani is one of the number of coworking spaces that has opened its doors in Iraq alongside The Station in Baghdad, Erbil and Mosul and CoWork in Baghdad, among a number of others nationwide. Given the size of the country, many of these coworking spaces are collaborating to offer their members a more flexible work experience as they scale their businesses across Iraq. In July, for example, Five One Labs and The Station signed a partnership agreement that provides reciprocal benefits, including seven days per month of coworking space, for members traveling between Sulaimani and The Station’s branches in Baghdad, Mosul and Erbil.

Coworking spaces can become an even more valuable resource for startups in Iraq moving forward. Currently, business registration in Iraq requires that a startup have physical office space, which can be costly and deter registration. Entrepreneur support organizations, among other groups, have increasingly been advocating for shared office space to be used as a valid legal address for businesses in order to incentivize startups to legally register. It is important that Iraqi entrepreneurs get access to the resources and features which can put them on the same level as their peers globally so that they can bring the values that entrepreneurs create all over the world.