SoftBank invests $4.4 billion in WeWork
August 25, 2017 | Bobby Burch
Global coworking giant WeWork recently raked in a massive investment from SoftBank.
The Tokyo-based conglomerate and its $93-billion Vision Fund has injected $4.4 billion into WeWork, which has 23 coworking spaces in the United States — including a shared, 40,000- square-foot workspace in Kansas City in the Crossroads Arts District — and more than 27 international offices.
“WeWork is leveraging the latest technologies and its own proprietary data systems to radically transform the way people work,” SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son said in a release. “(WeWork CEO Adam Neumann’s) unique vision and talented team have created a sharing platform that offers maximum flexibility and opportunity to creators of all types, from young entrepreneurs to large multinational companies. We are thrilled to support WeWork as they expand across markets and geographies and unleash a new wave of productivity around the world.”
Of the $4.4 billion investment, $3 billion will go toward WeWork’s parent company via a primary investment in new shares and a secondary purchase of existing shares, SoftBank said in a release. The remaining $1.4 billion will fund WeWork’s expansion in China, Japan and Southeast Asia and Korea.
WeWork was valued at $21 billion in July. The firm currently has about 150,000 members across the world.
2017 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
This meal is metal: Elephant Wings rocks concert of flavors with chef’s Indian fusion setlist
Ameet Malhotra’s just-released cover of Indian fusion is fuel to the fire of that which diners’ desire, the chef and owner of Elephant Wings said. Newly opened this month at Parlor KC in the Crossroads, two of the restaurant’s popular menu items include Malhotra’s tikka masala poutine and the Bombay-mi — his version of the…
NXTSTAGE taps trio of KC entrepreneurs to help their companies grow revenue, scale
WICHITA — Three Kansas City startup founders are among 20 early-stage companies selected for the latest NXTUS program aimed at boosting innovation from within urban and rural areas throughout the state of Kansas. Joining the 2024 NXTSTAGE Customer Traction Cohort: Joy Broils, Hustle & Ground, Shawnee; Mark Lukenbill, Mpruv Sports, Basehor; and Crystal Webster, Sharing…
Study with USDA researchers affirms startup’s AI-powered facial recognition for cows can detect sick animals
A collaborative study between an Overland Park animal agtech startup and the U.S. Department of Agriculture successfully corroborated MyAnIML’s predictive ability to proactively manage devastating disease outbreaks in cattle production, the company announced this week. MyAnIML uses first-of-its-kind, proprietary facial recognition and deep learning technology to analyze cow muzzles — accurately predicting Infectious Bovine Keratoconjunctivitis…
Meet customers where they are (and they’re on TikTok): Marketing experts urge startups to invest in brand building
Like it or not, “TikTok remains king,” said Mikita Burton, encouraging startup founders to balance negative headlines about the video-sharing social media platform with its incredible potential for reaching their most-sought-after audiences. “We don’t just get to pick our customers’ favorite platforms, so you need to be where they are,” Burton, a social media strategist…