FUTRWORKS: Running an International Coworking Space in Osaka with Cobot
FUTRWORKS is a coworking space in Osaka built for global entrepreneurs, startups, and remote professionals. The space uses Cobot to manage two distinct membership tracks – international short-term passes and long-term startup memberships – across a 1,400 sq m / 15,000 sq ft facility in Umeda.
Favorite Cobot Features
The Story Behind FUTRWORKS
FUTRWORKS is an Asian coworking space built for two audiences at once: Japanese startups growing toward global expansion, and international digital nomads passing through Osaka on their way to the rest of the world.
The space covers 1,400 sq m / 15,000 sq ft across two zones. The coworking floor has hot desks, focus rooms, a chill-out lounge, a café and kitchen, a mini gym, showers, phone booths, and an event space. Private offices for startup teams of two to four people sit alongside, many with panoramic views of the Osaka skyline.
Members get 24/7 access with facial recognition entry, monitors, free coffee, and a regular program of community events. Sake tastings, tea ceremonies, yoga, kickboxing sessions, and happy hours bring local and international members into the same room. In January 2024, FUTRWORKS opened its doors to digital nomads and international visitors, expanding beyond its original startup-only membership.
The Challenge: Managing a Bilingual, Dual-Track Membership in Japan
Running a coworking space in Osaka for both Japanese startups and international nomads means managing two membership tracks that have almost nothing in common, by design.
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FUTRWORKS separates its membership deliberately. Japanese residents are directed to the Startups track, which requires a screening process to confirm that the applicant is a growth-oriented startup aiming for global expansion. International visitors, nomads, and remote professionals on short-term visas go through the short-term pass track.
The separation supports FUTRWORKS' mission to build a dedicated hub for international exchange in the Umeda area, not just fill desks.
Each track has its own pricing, access rules, onboarding flow, and billing logic. Short-term passes run from a day pass to a monthly pass, each with different access levels and phone booth credit allocations. The day pass is the required entry point for all first-time visitors. The startup track runs monthly billing, tiered pricing for second and third team members, meeting room credits, a half-month enrollment fee, and a mandatory six-month check-in. Getting both into one platform, running correctly and automatically, is not a standard configuration for most coworking software.
Then there is the language layer. For the team and Japanese startup members, the admin interface, member portal, invoices, and automated emails all need to work fully in Japanese. And for a space billing in yen, software that was not built with JPY in mind can produce rounding errors on invoices since the currency has no decimal places.
"We've been using Cobot since 2019 at our previous facility already, and it's difficult to express how much time it has saved us. When COVID hit, and we had to close and reduce fees overnight, Cobot let me manage every contract change, billing adjustment, and member communication single-handedly. That experience showed me Cobot isn't just a coworking management tool – it's essential infrastructure for resilience."
How FUTRWORKS Uses Cobot to Run Memberships and Billing in Osaka
Cobot's Built-in Compliance handles yen correctly. JPY has no decimal places, and Cobot rounds minor units as standard, so every invoice comes out clean.
- JPY minor units rounding handled correctly through Cobot's Built-in Compliance – no rounding errors on yen invoices
- Two structurally different membership tracks: short-term passes and screened startup memberships managed in one platform
- Bilingual operation running automatically: Japanese for the team and startup members, English for international visitors, based on individual language settings
- Automated billing, meeting room credits, and access rules across all pass types
- Community events managed through Event Booking and Ticketing, keeping the calendar and billing in one place
Advice for Other Spaces Considering Cobot
"Cobot isn't just a booking system – it's the foundation for growth. If you're considering expansion or internationalization, set up your internal processes before implementation and its value is maximized. Without Cobot, FUTRWORKS' current membership system and global operations simply wouldn't have been possible."
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