China VC-backed UrWork completes $58m Series B
China VC-backed UrWork, a co-working space provider for start-ups, has raised a RMB400 million ($58 million) Series B round of funding at a post-money valuation of about $1 billion.
Investors in the round include Tianhong Asset Management, a money market fund affiliate of Alibaba Group's Ant Financial, property developers Junfa Group and Dahong Group, and Shanghai Chuanghehui, a fund launched by Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
The office-sharing business was founded in 2015 by Daqing Mao, formerly an executive at property developer China Vanke. In its debut year, the company opened seven co-working centers in four Chinese cities, providing a total of 3,000 seats and 200,000 square meters of office space for entrepreneurs. In addition to working space, the company has expanded its services around the start-up ecosystem, providing legal, accounting, marketing, cloud computing services, and investor introductions to its members.
UrWork now has 20 co-working spaces in 16 Chinese cities. It plans to use the new capital to open more centers in China's first- and second-tier cities, and ten overseas cities including Singapore, New York, London and Taiwan. It will also improve its operational model and technology, according to a statement.
The company has previously raised six rounds of funding, which included an angel round from ZhenFund, Sinovation Ventures and Sequoia Capital, and a RMB200 million Series A round completed in 2015 and co-led by Nuoyuan and Gopher Asset Management, with participation by Banyan Capital.
Last year, it raised a RMB200 million extended Series A round as well as a RMB300 million pre-Series B round from Chinese commercial property developers Yintai Land and Zhongrong International Trust. A few months ago, it received backing from Prometheus Capital, a PE firm set up by the son of Wanda Group's chairman Wang Jianlin.
WeWork, a US provider of collaborative workspaces for entrepreneurs and small businesses, raised a $430 million Series F round led by China’s Legend Holdings and Hony Capital. The funding was used for Asian expansion.
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