Today, we’re announcing a $30 million Series A raise, with investment from top strategic investors and venture funds — a tremendous boost as we work toward becoming the industry standard for powering the hybrid workplace.
Propelled by strategic investors including WeWork, Newmark and Cushman & Wakefield, this raise is the critical next step in propelling us into position as the flex industry standard, connecting corporate occupiers, flex space providers and brokerage firms in one efficient ecosystem.
Today we announced the closing of our $30 million Series A round. We’re excited and humbled to partner with global leaders in commercial real estate and top proptech investors who bring the market expertise and the financial backing we need to keep growing, and to keep building the best technology to power the hybrid workplace.
Upflex cofounders Christophe Garnier (CEO) and Ginger Dhaliwal (CPO)
The raise was led by our incredible partners at WeWork with participation from investors we’re proud to work with including Newmark and Cushman & Wakefield, and returning investor Ecosystem Integrity Fund. Top venture funds including GPO Fund, Coelius Capital, Industry Ventures, Inertia Ventures, Perennial Private Investments, and Silicon Valley Bank are also all part of this raise.
Our total funds are now at $34.1 million — and since Ginger Dhaliwal and I teamed up to found Upflex in 2018, this company has accomplished so much. We’re excited to amp up our resources and take this operation to the next level as we work toward becoming the flex industry standard for powering the modern workplace.
Here’s how we plan to utilize this capital:
- First and foremost, we’re going to further accelerate our core mission to become the flex industry standard for the hybrid workplace, continuing to connect occupiers, brokerage firms and flex space partners in one efficient ecosystem.
- We’re going to expand our technology offerings, bringing each of those entities the software and solutions they need in order to meet the demands of distributed work, grow, scale, thrive, and have less of an environmental impact while they’re at it.
- We’re working to grow our global network to, we hope, some 30,000 bookable workspaces by 2025. Currently, we’re at more than 6,000 spaces in 80+ countries around the world. (By the way, 60% of those are small operators, which we love, because it elevates local businesses, helps communities thrive, and provides maximum choice and flexibility to our users.)
- We’re going to keep growing our diverse, worldwide team, setting the standard for what today’s employers and employees seek in the workplace.
- And no matter what, we’re going to champion sustainability, leading by example in reducing our own carbon footprint. And of course, we’ll keep planting trees for every desk booked on our platform.
Speaking of growing our team, we’re already growing fast. In fact, Upflex has grown by 109% since the start of 2022, and we’re hiring right now. Think you’d be a fit? Learn more about us, and check out the open positions here.
It’s been a big year for Upflex already
In February, you might recall we entered into a strategic and exclusive partnership with WeWork which was a great boost to our global network. We’re now the sole aggregator of WeWork inventory, and WeWork’s hundreds of thousands of clients — including 28,000+ remote-first or hybrid companies — now benefit from enhanced optionality in workspaces as they aim to adopt hybrid work strategies.
The workspace locations offered by hundreds of other Space Partner brands in our global network are now available on demand to those members and companies as well — a win-win for the workforce and for space providers.
Incredible support from an inspiring group of partners
It’s been a pleasure to work with WeWork CEO Sandeep Mathrani and the WeWork strategy team to build this collaborative ecosystem, and we’re proud to have partnered with them as they led this raise. We are also very happy to welcome back Ecosystem Integrity Fund (EIF) in this new round. EIF has been our main investor since 2019 and the best fund I ever worked with. They’re an investor in companies contributing to environmental sustainability, and we’re proud to be a part of that family. They are joined by a tremendous group, each bringing their own value and expertise to what we’re building.
Inertia Ventures is very savvy in the proptech and commercial real estate space. Cushman & Wakefield and Newmark bring industry-leading CRE market experience in managing relationships with both mid-market and enterprise clients — a rapidly growing audience for Upflex’s solutions as companies of all sizes make the shift to hybrid. Based in Australia, Perennial Private Investments is a brilliant supporter for us as we learn to better understand our industry’s needs in the APAC region, and as we seek to develop our presence in Asia and the Pacific.
Coelius Capital and Industry Ventures are powerful, established investors with an interest and an expertise in marketplaces, backing companies like Airbnb and Uber. Being a $4 billion fund, Industry brings expertise on future raises and developing a future plan for further financing as we continue to grow. And GPO Fund believes that we have what it takes to become a public company and can provide us guidance as we make our way.
The future is bright, and we’re grateful and inspired by the support, guidance and confidence from these partners as we push forward. Learn more about the news, what we’re doing now, and how we plan to build on that, here.
