China's Co-Working Unicorn UrWork Completes Pre-C Round, Fuelling Further Global Expansion
Aug 07, 2017, 11:01 ET
BEIJING, Aug. 7, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
China's largest co-working space provider UrWork announced today to have received pre-C round funding equivalent of US$178 M, fuelling further global expansion and technology upgrading.
UrWork (Beijing) Venture Investment Ltd ("UrWork") announced today to have completed pre-C round funding of US$178M, led by Beijing Capital Land, Star Group, Beijing Aikang Group and Prosperity Holdings, in the wake of UrWork's recent launch in Singapore.
"The pre-C round funding cements UrWork's position as the leading co-working space provider in Asia," said UrWork's founder and CEO Dr.Mao Daqing, a real estate veteran with over 23 years of experiences under his belt, including in executive roles at CapitaLand and Vanke China. He commented that the investment will be deployed to drive further global expansion and technology upgrading. "It will help further strengthen our core verticals and will see a series of facility and service upgrading at UrWork that sets us apart from other contenders," Mao said.
"Dr. Mao Daqing has demonstrated entrepreneurial vision and strong leadership that are unrivalled by few in the co-working industry in Asia," said Mr. Tang Jun, President of Beijing Capital Land. "We see this as an opportunity to innovate our business model and strengthen our existing real estate portfolio with some exciting and differentiated additions. I am delighted to join force with a company that reflects our values and complement our strengths."
Mr. Tang adds that UrWork's close ties with the Chinese government, the growth prospect of co-working industry, strong growth momentum and strong management team are core factors that influenced the deal. The two companies will partner in stock asset revitalisation and resource sharing, among others.
Beijing Capital Land Ltd. ("BCL", Stock Code: HK2868) is a leading integrated real estate developer in China, focusing on residential development, outlet complex and urban core complex, complemented by innovative business areas such as primary land development and high-tech industry.
The majority shareholder of BCL is Beijing Capital Group Co., Ltd. ("BCG"), a large state-owned enterprise affiliated to the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the Beijing Municipality. Its second largest shareholder, GIC Private Limited, is a major sovereign wealth fund wholly owned by the Government of Singapore. Guided by the principles of "creating new urban lifestyle", BCL is innovating its business model, while revitalising dormant spaces in central CBD area to create connected spaces merging professional work with lifestyle.
"The rising concept of co-working addresses the more mobile working style that modern urban professionals have today, where an increasing number of young people work on the go, resulting in an under-utilisation of stock assets. By revitalising the spaces with craft architecture, designer interior and connected technology, we recapture the latent stock spaces, creating more added values," said Mao, who is also the founder and CEO of 5LMeet, China's first co-living concept company, launched recently in partnership with Traders Hotel in Beijing CBD.
"The total market capitalisation of share economy is estimated to reach US$335 billion, with 36% year-to-year growth rate. China's sharing economy volume is likely to crown the world within the next three to five years. It's an exciting time and we believe the right timing to invest in a fast-growing company like UrWork, "said Gan Lianfang, founder and Chairman of Star Group. Star Group started as China's leading manufacturer of table-tennis equipment and has grown to become an integrated investment company with expanding portfolio in health care and real estate sectors. The company seeks to explore new ways of upgrading the industry and equity-investment business model through the partnership with UrWork.
Beijing Aikang Group, founded in 1993, is a leading Chinese conglomerate with diversified investment portfolio in pharmaceutical and medical, securities and bonds, hospitality and catering, as well as real estate sectors. With a clear health-oriented investment strategy, the company aims to complement UrWork's existing portfolio with real estate resources in healthcare sectors.
Prosperity Holdings was founded in Shanghai in 2011 and has since been focusing on asset diversification and management including property investment, corporate equity investment, securities and bonds and investment advisory. Its investment portfolio encompasses residential property, commercial property, healthcare, new energy, clean tech, supply chain, entertainment and art. Trough the strategic investment, Prosperity Fund will support UrWork with further roll-out in the US, as well as developing innovative service products that adds more values to the UrWork members.
By Feb 2017, there has been 186 unicorns globally, among which 42 are in China. Unicorns in the sharing economy sector take up to 36%, including Didi Chuxing, E Le Me ("Are you hungry" in English), UrWork etc, covering transportation, food, fintech, co-working, supply chain sectors. As the co-working landscape is evolving (4000 companies in China so far), so is the perception on co-working. In lieu of the traditional indie start-ups and freelancers, modern Fortune 500 and innovative SMEs are occupying more of the spaces, with the purpose of tapping the business synergy of the open community. UrWork is actively pushing the boundary to connect smart working with lifestyle, generating countless jobs for the co-working industry.
For editors:
UrWork (Beijing) Venture Investment Co., Ltd, known as UrWork, is a co-working disrupter and leader in China, providing start-ups, SMEs and corporate tenants with on-demand, short-term leasing and customised space solutions at an exceptional value. Backed by renowned investors such as Sequoia Capital, Zhen Fund, Noah Wealth Management, Sinovation Ventures, UrWork posts a post-C round valuation of US$ 1.5 billion.
With 88 locations in over 22 cities as of Aug 2017, UrWork sets to open another 160 locations across 32 cities worldwide including in China, Singapore, New York, Los Angeles San Francisco and London over the next three years, covering a total area of over 7M sq.ft.
Aggregating over 1000 professional business service suppliers across a broad spectrum, UrWork serves over 40,000 individual members and over 3000 enterprises. It counts Unicorns such as ofo bike, BlueGogo, Mobike, Amazon China, Jin Ri Tou Tiao, Netease, JD logistics as corporate members. The company offers in-house Express Financing program and a series of acceleration programs to help start-ups scale and grow. Its proprietary Link China Program partners with Chinese government agencies and a broad range of service suppliers to help foreign start-ups ease market-entry in to China.
Visit http://www.urwork.cn to access more information about the facility, marketing programs and mentor programs from the company.
CONTACT:
Helena Ma
UrWork PR Support
Tel: +65 97243153
Email: [email protected]
SOURCE UrWork