Author: Manjunath Raghavendra, India Corporate Head

The first thing you notice when you step out of the elevator into Mercari’s new India office at Embassy Tech Village (ETV), Bengaluru is not the furniture, the lighting, or even the view.

It is the Mercari wall, the mission statement, and the lobby items – actual products sold on the Mercari C2C marketplace – bold, visible, and impossible to miss. They set the tone before anyone has even reached their desk. These are not just decorative elements; they are a statement of intent: a daily reminder of who we are, what we value, and why the work happening here matters.

Welcome to Mercari’s new home in India – a workspace designed to bring together Indian energy, Mercari Japan culture & values, and a global outlook under one roof.

A Vision Rooted in Purpose

Every great office starts with a question: what is this space actually for?

For Mercari India, the answer was clear: create a workspace that empowers our India engineering teams to build and deliver products for users around the world. Not just a place to sit and work, but an environment designed to help people focus, collaborate, experiment, and do their best work every day.

That vision evolved into a design concept with an Indo-Japanese touch, supported by global elements throughout. The idea was to honor Mercari’s Japanese roots while celebrating the vibrancy and pace of India – and to do it in a way that reflects how Mercari operates today: across borders, across cultures, and with teams building for a global user base.

The result is not a Tokyo office transplanted into India, and not a space disconnected from where Mercari began. It is a genuine meeting point – a physical expression of collaboration between India and Japan, shaped by shared purpose.

Design That Speaks the Language of Mercari

The Mercari wall and the mission statement wall – before employees enter the work areas, they are reminded of the “why” behind their work – the mission that connects everyday decisions to something larger.

That philosophy continues across the floor through dedicated value zones. These spaces bring Mercari’s core values into the physical environment, making them something employees can see and experience as they move through the office – not just words in a handbook or slides in an onboarding deck.

The meeting rooms also carry the India-Japan collaboration theme forward. Instead of generic names or numbers, they are named after cities in both countries, reflecting Mercari India’s connection to Japan and adding cultural meaning to spaces where teams come together to discuss ideas, solve problems, and make decisions.

Together, these design choices make the office feel distinctly Mercari: rooted in mission, shaped by values, and brought to life through the relationship between India and Japan.

A Workspace Built for Focus, Creativity, and Connection

Culture needs the right environment to thrive, and the physical setting plays a bigger role than people often realize.

Mercari’s new office is located in a leading tech park alongside global technology companies, creating an energetic environment where innovation is part of the everyday atmosphere. For our teams, that surrounding ecosystem adds to the sense of momentum and ambition.

Inside the office, the layout has been designed around how modern teams actually work:

• Informal collaboration zones give teams the freedom to gather quickly, sketch out ideas, and turn spontaneous conversations into meaningful next steps.
• Ample meeting rooms make discussions easier and more productive, whether teams are planning, reviewing, brainstorming, or connecting across locations.
• An exclusive event space creates new possibilities for Mercari India to host external tech meetups and community events. This is a first for Mercari India – a space that opens our doors to the wider tech community, strengthens our presence in the ecosystem, and brings the Mercari brand closer to developers, engineers, and innovators.

Each of these spaces serves the same purpose: to reduce the friction between having an idea and acting on it.

More Than an Office – A Statement

At its heart, this office is a physical expression of what Mercari is building between India and Japan: a genuine partnership grounded in shared ownership, mutual respect, and a common mission.

The design does not ask employees to choose between “Indian” and “Japanese.” Instead, it brings both together – with a global perspective – into something distinctly Mercari. The mission is on the wall, the values are built into the space, the energy of the tech park surrounds it, and collaboration is designed into every open area, meeting room, and community space.

For the people who walk through it every day, the office is a quiet but constant reminder: the work happening here matters. It is connected to something bigger than one team, one location, or one country. It is part of a shared vision for what Mercari can build across borders.

We are excited to welcome our teams, partners, and the wider tech community into this new space – and to begin the next chapter of Mercari India’s journey from here.