At an estimated company value of $20 billion US, WeWork is an American Company that provides the opportunity for entrepreneurs to share work spaces, making everyone’s lives easier. WeWork helps small businesses, freelancers and entrepreneurs to keep costs down, connect with one another and create communities so that office work doesn’t have to be lonely when you are a one man show.
Founded in 2010, it has only taken WeWork 8 years to get themselves into the Unicorn Company list. In fact; they did it in four years, making their first billion dollars back in 2014. What we want to know is who they are, what they do and how they came to be worth so much money… so we took a closer look to try and find out!
WeWork
With company headquarters based in NYC, WeWork builds virtual workstations for people who don’t have an office of their own. This facilitates their working experience while simultaneously giving them access to a network of like-minded individuals who they can bounce ideas off of, use as guides when they are lost or teach the tricks of the trade to. The company provides a number of other benefits to its members, including health insurance and a summer team building retreat.
WeWork operates in 23 countries but has 280 bases throughout. Their success was largely due to the popularity of their idea in New York, where it immediately flourished into an online masterpiece. A portion of their start up capital was given by the T. Rowe Price Association, Benchmark Capital, the Softbank Group, Wellington Management and numerous others. With investments of their own in the Flatiron School, Meetup, Conductor and a Chinese version of their service already available; it seems that WeWork have income quietly generating all over the place.
Unlike many of the companies on the Unicorn list, WeWork seeks to promote a better life for all who use it. It is an honest system that works by charging a flat rate for the service with a few optional extras added in if you so choose.
List of Services
WeWork have some interesting services, most of which revolve around creating an Eco-friendly working environment through a digital means. Some of their specific services are as follows:
- WeLive – the home version for finding co-housing.
- Rise By We – A gym finding service.
- WeGrow – Private tuition for children.
- They have investments in schools and future minds.
- WeWork Labs – their technological development department.
- An annual staff retreat
- A social network site
- Social events/workshops
- Health insurance for members
- creating online working spaces that tackle isolation and loneliness.
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Working Environment
The popularity of this business is something that cannot be denied and the fact that it sweeps through each new city that tries it indicates that WeWork is here to stay – and to keep growing well into the future. With 100,000 members in NYC alone it makes financial sense for them to start expanding in bigger and better ways. By making investments in the younger generation they are also preserving and protecting their own future as a business… and that is a shrewd move, indeed.
