SINGAPORE (July 8): Ucommune is preparing to raise as much as US$200 million ($271 million) in a 2020 US IPO, people familiar with the matter say, a capital infusion that would help the loss-making Chinese start-up battle WeWork Cos across the world’s No 2 economy.
The four-year-old company is seeking to raise at least US$100 million, they say, asking not to be identified discussing private matters. Ucommune had reportedly targeted an IPO in 3Q2018, but market turbulence engendered by US-China tensions forced it to back off, they add. The deal is in its preliminary stages and subject to change, they say, but a successful transaction will help refill coffers drained by a race with WeWork to set up shared office spaces from Beijing to Shenzhen.
Ucommune is vying with WeWork and local rivals from KR Space to MyDreamPlus to become China’s leading provider of shared office spaces, popular among the nation’s fast-growing crop of boot-strapped start-ups. That pits it directly against WeWork, the US$47 billion outfit that pioneered the concept of trendy workspaces with colourful phone booth-like conversation areas and lively community hangouts serving beer on tap, reshaping office practices around the world.
While WeWork dominates the US market, it faces strong competition in Asia. Last valued at US$1.8 billion and backed by All-Stars Investment and Sequoia Capital, Ucommune got its start in China, where it plans to run 300 locations within three years, but has begun setting up in cities from London to Los Angeles. It operates more than 100 locations across dozens of cities around the world and shares WeWork’s vision of branching out from office space towards services, including legal assistance.
Zhang Dongni, a spokeswoman for Ucommune, declined to comment. The company — known as UrWork until it changed its name after a WeWork lawsuit — was founded by Mao Daqing, a well-known figure in property and tech circles. The grandson of Mao Ziyao, an architect who helped design Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, he spent time at CapitaLand and giant homebuilder China Vanke Co before starting his company in 2015.
