There is a huge demand for flexible workspaces in Korea as more and more entrepreneurs, freelancers, and developers prefer non-traditional offices. This is why there has been a rise in coworking spaces in Seoul over the last 5 years. They have been hugely popular ever since due to the fact they ensure quick and seamless access. Now access to coworking spaces will be even more seamless. A startup in Korea called MOCA System has created a new access management option for offices called Airfob Space.
With Airfob Space, physical keys, magnetic stripe keycards, and key fobs will no longer be required. Airfob Space allows access via your smartphone which in turn keeps security at a very high level. Therefore, community managers at most co-working spaces no longer have to spend countless staff hours issuing, managing, and replacing physical access cards for their members. Airfob Space replaces these costly cards with virtual mobile badges. These badges are stored on members’ mobile phones and managed 100% in the cloud.
Airfob Space coming to FastFive
MOCA has partnered with FastFive, Korea’s largest and fastest-growing co-working operator, to allow members to unlock their spaces by using a mobile app. FastFive recently got $27 million in funding in June of this year. With the investment, FastFive will aggressively expand and will open more than 80 co-working spaces by 2023. Key to this scale-up is MOCA’s Airfob Space, a new prop-tech solution combining cloud-based member management and access control. For large operators like FastFive, Airfob Space is the key that unlocks incredible cost savings and scalability. As for small operators or building owners, it serves as a turnkey solution for turning underutilized spaces into income-generating co-working spaces. For FastFive, the decision to go with MOCA was obvious.
“We chose Airfob Space because it helps us scale up more effectively, consolidating our membership management across dozens of locations into a single cloud-based solution. This improves the member and employee experience at our existing spaces while enabling new business models such as our FIVESPOT co-working lounges,” FastFive said in a statement.
Airfob Space works by using the Bluetooth (BLE) or NFC connection on a member’s phone to verify access and open doors. Unlike many RF cards, the connection is encrypted end-to-end. MOCA also has a solution called Airfob Patch, which goes on top of an existing RFID card reader, making it mobile-ready. With mobile access control, coworkers do not have to worry about losing keycards or memorizing pin codes. In addition, the app keeps track of who enters and leaves a particular area.
Having completed a successful proof of concept at multiple locations, Airfob Space will roll out across 16 locations in 2021. Moreover, it will expand to FastFive’s entire network over the next few years.
More than an Online Access Control System
MOCA is also in talks with additional co-working operators in Asia, as well as other member-oriented companies such as gyms. Therefore Airfob Space is more than an online access control system. It includes tools that allow member-drive companies like co-working spaces and gyms to deeply analyze how people use their spaces. MOCA provides a full-stack solution. This includes a secure cloud-based management portal, APIs and SDKs. Therefore, companies can incorporate mobile credentials into their own apps. As well as standalone, controller-free edge readers that can be customized with company logos.
“Co-working has grown 10-fold over the past 10 years. But they are still using expensive, hard to manage RF cards for access control. Airfob Space is more convenient for members, more secure, and will make co-working spaces and other member-based organizations more profitable,” said Andrew Kim, CEO of MOCA System.
