Founders: Miguel McKelvey, Adam Neumann (CEO)
Launched: 2010
Headquarters: New York City
Funding: $4.7 billion (PitchBook)
Valuation: $21.1 billion (PitchBook)
Key technologies: Artificial intelligence, Internet of Things
Disrupting: Office space rentals
George Kavallines | CNBC
Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey got the idea for WeWork back in 2010 when they were both working in a partially vacant office building in Brooklyn. Neumann was selling baby clothing, and McKelvey was an architect. They convinced the landlord to let them rent out the empty space as shared workspaces, and the idea for WeWork was hatched.
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Today the New York city-based company is a global network of workspaces, providing more than 200,000 members with space, community and services through both physical and virtual offerings. In 2017 WeWork opened 90 new locations, bringing its total to 200. It launched in 31 new cities, including Paris, Beijing, Melbourne and São Paulo. The company also announced plans to open its second headquarters, in San Francisco's Salesforce Tower. In April the company launched the WeWork Services Store, an integrated network that streamlines the process of finding, managing and purchasing the business services, applications and software that members need. The company also has new partnerships for services at WeWork spaces with Airbnb, Amazon, Samsung, RBC and MasterCard.
WeWork isn't just focusing on shared office space anymore. There are two WeLive residential apartment locations (NYC and D.C.), and last year the company opened its first Rise By We wellness and fitness center in Lower Manhattan. The company had revenues of $900 million last year, mainly from its shared workspace business. In August it received a $4.4 billion investment from SoftBank Group and the SoftBank Vision Fund. That brings its total funding to $6.9 billion, giving the company a valuation of around $20 billion and fueling more talk of an IPO. The company told Bloomberg earlier this year that it has no immediate plans to go public.
