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
AI-generated bedtime stories are just the first chapter in JQ Sirls epic venture to make the publishing industry more inclusive
Every great children’s story deserves the opportunity to be published, JQ Sirls said, adding his own footnote that more people are qualified than they think to create them. “I could put 1,000 people in one room and tell them all to write a short story about their childhood. While many of them may have a…
‘When puppets talk people listen’: It’s not just storytelling anymore for one of KC’s most beloved children’s theaters
A Kansas City arts institution known for years as the Mesner Puppet Theater is animated with new life, said Meghann Henry, detailing a mission pivot for the freshly sewn and rebranded What If Puppets. Evolution at the nonprofit has taken a turn toward early childhood education since the retirement of Paul Mesner in 2016 —…
M25 drops Midwest Madness bracket for best startup hub: 4-seed KC faces up-hill battle (Here’s how to vote)
Bracket update: Since this story’s original publication, Kansas City has advanced to the Midwest Madness bracket’s Round of 32. Voting on Kansas City’s next match-up — against 5-seed Lafayette, Indiana — begins Tuesday, March 21. As sports fans fill out March Madness brackets this week, a Chicago-based venture capital firm is encouraging Midwestern founders, investors…
Startups, investors on ‘red alert’ as Silicon Valley Bank collapse ripples into new tech downturn fears
Editor’s note: This story was originally published by Missouri Business Alert, a member of the KC Media Collective, which also includes Startland News, KCUR 89.3, American Public Square, Kansas City PBS/Flatland, and The Kansas City Beacon. Click here to read the original story. Silicon Valley Bank collapsed in rapid fashion on Friday to become the second-largest bank…