The American RocketSpace ends its activities in the United Kingdom. Known for its startup support program, the Californian company also competes with WeWork for its coworking space business.
However, it seems that on the ground, WeWork is not the only one encountering difficulties. According to confidential information obtained by Bloomberg, RocketSpace has decided to close its coworking space located in London, as well as its subsidiaries RocketSpace UK Ltd and And RocketSpace Angel, which had a debt of 11.6 million dollars, until April 2020. Note that the company would have the means to reimburse it.
Uber or Spotify went through RocketSpace
Founded in 2011 in the United States by Duncan Logan, RocketSpace arrived in the United Kingdom in 2017 in Angel, a district located in the London borough of Islington, with a space consisting of 1,500 seats. This was his first opening outside the United States.
According to data from Crunchbase, the company has raised $336 million from China's HNA Group since its inception. Even if RocketSpace is often compared to WeWork, their model is different because it mainly focuses on supporting high-potential startups. In addition to its coworking spaces, the company offers, for example, a 3-month support program. This is personalized coaching to help startups that are already well launched grow, in particular by supporting them in their search for investors. The company is known for having seen startups like Uber and Spotify pass through its facilities in their early days.
WeWork lays off massively in London
In addition, RocketSpace has also launched a program aimed at companies to support them in their need for transformation, helping them, for example, to establish a “culture of innovation”.
After the SoftBank bailout, WeWork announced a wave of layoffs, including half of its London-based workforce, as well as a team of engineers and architects who had been hired there to oversee the opening of new locations.
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