WeWork Invests $30M Into Upflex To Capture The Growing Opportunities From Dispersed Hybrid Working Patterns

WeWork Invests $30M Into Upflex To Capture The Growing Opportunities From Dispersed Hybrid Working Patterns

Upflex, a software solution that aggregates and markets bookable spaces in flexible workplaces, has raised $30 million in Series A funding, in a round led by WeWork. This is an acceleration of an existing exclusive partnership (in place since February 2022) between the two firms. The funding round also had participation from Newmark as well as Cushman & Wakefield, alongside private equity investors. Upflex will use the funding to develop its software offering, recruit talent and expand the number of bookable spaces on its platform to 30,000 items by 2025. This will help build upon its value proposition as a common platform that connects occupiers, brokerages and flex space providers. Upflex currently has a global network of 6,000 bookable locations across 80 countries and 900 cities. It also powers Newmark’s Optality space optimization services for commercial real estate portfolios.

This is the latest in a wave of investment by real estate services firms into technology solutions. In February of this year, for example, Savills acquired Cureoscity to open up opportunities in the COVID-stricken commercial estate services market. In January CBRE acquired Buildingi to better serve corporates’ rapidly evolving requirements for hybrid era occupancy planning. This market activity indicates that real estate services firms are on manoeuvres to refresh their offering, moving away from value propositions based on the assumption that their clients’ workforces will regularly work in a single location or have static workplaces that have the same layout or amenities for multiple quarters in a row.

In a broader sense, these investments and acquisitions will help simplify the more complex workflows that go into managing a hybrid workforce or offering flexible workspaces. More and more employees now expect to be able work from multiple locations, especially those working internationally with clients or within an employer’s global portfolio. Offering them digital solutions to make their workplace experience across different offices more seamless will enable real estate services firms to gain a competitive edge in today’s era of dispersed, hybrid working.

To learn more about this dynamic market, watch out for Verdantix’s upcoming Buyer Guide on Workplace System Integrators, getting published at the end of June 2022. This report will showcase how real estate services firms, the Big Four consulting firms, global technology services suppliers and regional specialists are updating their system integration offerings to meet new customer requirements, particularly around hybrid working enablement.