On March 9, office-sharing enterprises UCOMMUNE and Woo Space announced a merger. This merger is an important strategic step for UCOMMUNE after its previous merger with Hongtai Space two months ago. Now UCOMMUNE is valued at nearly $1.7 billion (11 billion yuan).
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In recent years, shared offices are growing at a rate of 30 percent annually. It is estimated that by 2019, the total operating area of shared offices in China will reach 550 million square feet (51 million square meters). By 2030, 30 percent of office space will be shared. In the next five years, this industry will usher in a period of dividends. Platform economy and sharing economy are bound to become an important part of building a new economy.
By attracting global innovators, UCOMMUNE has formed a strong membership system. It uses artificial intelligence and big data to enable corporate services companies to form an interactive ecosystem for its members and achieve precise services within the ecosystem.
Founded in 2015, Woo Space has been developing its business in Beijing. Its founders are all elite university alumni, and its investors include Matrix Partners China, China Equity, Plum Ventures, and Cyanhill Capital. Woo Space has 23 shared offices nationwide spanning nearly 1 million square feet (100,000 square meters) in all. Woo Space serves over 700 enterprises.
This is not the first time for both sides to work together. As early as 2016, UCOMMUNE participated in Woo Space’s Series A round financing.
In this merger, the two sides will integrate their respective advantages, connect member systems, and provide diverse and valuable services to users. The two sides will tackle problems and bring more opportunities to the shared space industry.
Together, the companies have reached over 200,000 members. More importantly, they are backed by a large number of high-quality Chinese investors, including Sequoia Capital China, Zhen Fund, Matrix Partners China, China Equity, Plum Ventures, Cyanhill Capital, Innovation Works. These resources further enrich and strengthen the future development of the two companies.
For the merger, Daqing Mao, founder of UCOMMUNE, said, “I think highly of Woo Space. Its CEOs are all post-’90s who graduated from famous overseas universities. They have a very deep insight on young people’s needs in the shared office space. Its operating capacity, office selection and awareness of cross-border cooperation with the new retailing industry all bring great inspiration to UCOMMUNE.”
As of December 2017, UCOMMUNE has 120 shared office spaces in 35 cities around the world. UCOMMUNE is actively internationalizing, setting up offices in Los Angeles, New York, China, Taipei, China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Jakarta. UCOMMUNE has experience in scale management, integrated operation, financial products and platform development.
Regarding the significance of this merger, Randy Wan, founder and CEO of Woo Space, said, “UCOMMUNE has abundant experience in cross-regional, large-scale operation and management, as well as diversified financial operation capabilities. Woo Space and UCOMMUNE will fully play out our strategic resources, management capacity and other aspects, and try to leverage our advantages in market share, membership capabilities, and brand building.”