Ucommune, the WeWork of China that provides shared workspace for startups is seeking initial public offerings of USD 3 billion at the Nasdaq this year.
Ucommune (优客工场), the WeWork of China that provides shared workspace for startups is seeking initial public offerings of USD 3 billion at the Nasdaq this year, according to The Information.
The company once considered to be listed at the HongKong Stock Exchange, and then adjusted its goal into New York. It has hired the investment banks Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase to work on the IPO in Nasdaq as early as the third quarter of this year, according to The Information, citing a person with direct knowledge of the matter.
Ucommune was founded in 2015 as a start-ups co-working space provider and entrepreneurs’ community. The company provides shared workspaces and relative services to technology startups, freelancers, small businesses and some large enterprises.
The company raised USD 200 million in its newest Series D round of financing led by All-Stars Investment and CEC Capital, valuing it at USD 3 billion. It has closed 14 rounds of funding in the past 3 years according to Itjuzi, the CrunchBase of China.
Co-working has been a major topic in China following the growth of WeWork but as time went on a mixture of competition and China’s slowing economy saw a number of the field struggle. That presented an opportunity for Ucommune, which has aggressively gone after growth in China with a consolidation strategy that has seen it acquire no fewer than seven companies this year.
Now, Ucommune is looking for ambitious international growth that’s aimed at expanding its reach to 350 cities across 40 countries. The ultimate goal, it explained in an announcement after its Series D funding, is to double its capacity from 100,000 workstations today to 200,000 over the next three years from 2019.