Co-working Giant WeWork China Bags USD 500 Mn From Temasek & SoftBank This investment will help WeWork to support creators, small businesses, and large companies across China
By Nidhi Singh
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Big or small every startup requires funds to grow and expand into new geographies. The global trend for fundraising has turned out to be positive with startups every year raising more capital at higher valuations. The recent one is China which is joining the list of top countries where it's raining funds. Co-working giant WeWork China has recently raised fresh funds worth USD 500 million in a Series B investment led by Trustbridge Partners, Temasek, the SoftBank Group, the SoftBank Vision Fund and Hony Capital.
The co-working giant currently supports 20,000 members spanning nearly 40 locations across three cities, with plans to expand to six new cities in 2018, including Shenzhen, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Nanjing, and Wuhan.
Bridging the Gap Between Local and Global Companies:
This is the second major round of funding for WeWork China. The first was a USD 500 million investment announced last summer. The investment was further dedicated to fueling WeWork's growth and expanding its operations throughout China.
"This investment will help WeWork fuel our mission to support creators, small businesses, and large companies across China," said CEO and cofounder Adam Neumann in a company's blog post.
He also added, "WeWork has built an incredible team in China that supports our members every day, serving as a bridge for local companies who want to reach the world as well as for global companies that want to enter the Chinese market."
A Joint Effort Among Business Partners
In July 2017, it was announced that WeWork would expand heavily into China, with USD 500 million investment by SoftBank, Hony Capital and other lenders to form a standalone entity called WeWork China. However, In April 2018 it was announced that WeWork had merged its China operations with local rival naked Hub, which is part of naked Group, a leading hospitality, design, technology, and lifestyle brand that was founded in China in 2007. naked Group hosted over 1 million guests from China and around the world
The CEO in the blog post thanked WeWork's local partners and said the funding reaffirms the dedication to his team, members, and partners in China.
"Strategic decisions, like our acquisition of naked Hub earlier this year, have allowed WeWork China to support businesses of all sizes. We're particularly excited about our team's continued partnership with female-led businesses, which has led to women making up over 50 percent of membership in China," said Neumann.
Made in China to Created in China
Commenting on the investment, Feng Ge, managing partner of Trustbridge Partners shared that WeWork is paving the way for a new future of work in China and supporting the transformation from Made in China to Created in China.
"Whether entrepreneurs are just starting out, Chinese companies are looking to take their business global, or international enterprises want to do business here, they know WeWork is the local partner they need," he added.
