- General
- July 27, 2018
- 4 minutes read
WeWork China gets $500 million funding round at a $5 Billion Valuation to expand its presence
image credit: WeWork Co-working startup and decacorn ($10 Billion(+) valuation) WeWork’s China subsidiary has now closed on $500 million in…
image credit: WeWork
Co-working startup and decacorn ($10 Billion(+) valuation) WeWork’s China subsidiary has now closed on $500 million in funding from several Asian investors which values the unit at $5 Billion as WeWork aims to expand and strengthen its presence in the Chinese region.
This marks another addition to the company’s already huge total funding as WeWork is known to have raised well above $7 Billion in equity financing across several investment rounds.
This founding round for its Chinese subsidiary is led by Shanghai based private equity VC investor Trustbridge Partners with participation also from Temasek, Hony Capital, Softbank as a company and its behemoth investment entity Softbank Vision Fund which notably made a $4.4 Billion investment last year into WeWork’s major business.
WeWork China has now raised a total of $1 Billion across two rounds after just two years in the market which it has expanded its presence across 2 Chinese cities and a major move where it acquired its major competitor Naked Hub for $400 million April this year.
WeWork is aiming to triple its presence in the Chinese region with this major investment as it sets to get into the regions of Hangzhou, Chengdu, Nanjing, Wuhan, Shenzhen and Suzhou which would boost up its operations and presence in the Chinese region which stands as major co-working market.
Quoting WeWork’s co-founder and CEO Adam Neumann in a newly issued statement “This investment will help WeWork fuel our mission to support creators, small businesses and large companies across China. 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.”
WeWork says it already has 20,000 members across 40 locations and 3 cities in the Chinese region which stands as a very good record for its Chinese subsidiary which has mainly operated for just a year.
Softbank Vice Chairman Ronald Fisher stated “Adam Neumann’s vision has always been for WeWork to be a global company with a local playbook, and nowhere is that more clear than in China where WeWork has developed an impressive offering. From its strong leadership team to locally-tailored technology integrations and community-based design, WeWork has demonstrated that it understands what businesses in China need to succeed. Through this investment, we look forward to WeWork continuing to support many more companies of all sizes across China,”
WeWork is currently valued at $20 Billion but was reported last month by a Softbank executive to be pursuing more investment at a $35 Billion valuation.
