WeWork, the US-based co-working space provider backed by corporates including telecommunications group SoftBank, has secured $760m in series G funding from undisclosed investors, Forbes reported yesterday.
The company issued 13.2 million shares of preferred stock priced at $57.90 on June 30 this year, according to regulatory documents, and the funding was raised at a $20bn valuation, sources close to the company told Forbes.
WeWork operates a network of co-working spaces that now stretches across 49 cities in 15 countries.
The company has opened locations in Beijing, Buenos Aires, Paris and Sao Paulo this year and is preparing to open space in Mumbai, Bogota and Melbourne as it increases cooperation with corporate customers.
The new funding is expected to support the launch of new spaces, particularly in Asia where WeWork has 16 offices and where SoftBank is expected to facilitate growth. WeWork is in talks to open between 10 and 20 spaces in Tokyo, Japan, Bloomberg reported yesterday.
SoftBank invested $300m in WeWork at a $17bn valuation in a March 2017 deal that could potentially be followed by up to $2.7bn from the corporate’s Vision Fund.
WeWork has now raised approximately $2.45bn since it was founded in 2010, having raised $690m in an October 2016 series F round featuring hotel chain Shanghai Jin Jiang International Hotels, conglomerate Legend Holdings and private equity firm Hony Capital.
Fidelity Management and Research, JP Morgan Investment Management, T. Rowe Price, Goldman Sachs, Benchmark Capital and clients of Wellington Management Company are also past investors in WeWork.
– Photo courtesy of WeWork