Ucommune Acquires Co-Working Rival Woo Space, Boosting Valuation to $1.7B

Ucommune, the flexible office provider formerly known as UrWork, has acquired co-working rival Woo Space in the startup’s latest expansion play — boosting Ucommune’s valuation to $1.7 billion, the company announced.

China’s biggest co-working space provider informed Mingtiandi that the completed acquisition of Beijing-based startup Woo Space (無界空间) boosts Ucommune’s member base to over 200,000. The move comes two months after Ucommune, closed on the acquisition of mainland flexible office operator New Space, a deal first announced last May.

Ucommune Picks Up Two-Year-Old Co-Working Brand

Woo Space was founded in 2015 by a pair of Cornell University graduates in their late 20s, Wan Liushuo and Han Xinqi, with Wan serving as CEO. The company has built a network of 23 locations in Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin, covering a total area of 100,000 square meters and serving over 700 enterprises.

Beijing-based Ucommune participated in the A-series financing round for Woo Space through a strategic equity investment in early 2016. Woo Space has also secured capital from investors Matrix China, Xinli Capital Group, Meihua Angel Investment and Qingshan Capital, according to a statement.

“Woo Space is a team that I have admired and followed closely,” commented Mao Daqing, Ucommune’s founder and CEO in the announcement. “The 1990s-born CEO has deep insights into the needs of young people in the coworking space and keen on developing the potential of youths. The team’s astute ability to identify good location and their knowledge of cross-border relationships within the e-commerce industry have inspired Ucommune.”

“Both parties will be fully committed to synergizing resources, management capabilities to maximise our market share and commercial performance in membership operations and brand building,” said Wan in the statement.

Co-working Unicorn Continues Growth Drive

Founded in 2015, Ucommune has announced a flurry of investments, mergers and acquisitions over the past year, as the company targets rapid growth in Asia’s competitive co-working sphere. The company bagged a new investment of RMB 110 million ($17 million) led by an existing backer, Qianhai Wutong Mergers and Acquisitions Funds, just last month, raising its value to $1.4 billion at the time.

Last May, Ucommune announced a strategic merger with rival New Space, creating a combined network of nearly 100 co-working centres across the country. Ucommune’s acquisition of the firm was completed this past January, a spokesperson confirmed to Mingtiandi.

At the beginning of this year, Ucommune leased a full floor in Hong Kong’s Grand Millennium Plaza in Sheung Wan, marking its first shared office centre in the city. The company’s first co-working centre in Taiwan is scheduled to open in April in the core of Taipei’s downtown Xinyi district. Ucommune’s second location in Singapore, a 1,400 square metre venue, is also slated to launch in the same month.