WeWork has raised yet another gargantuan round of funding, as the shared working hub this time focuses on growing its Chinese business.
WeWork China has grabbed a $500 million series B investment from SoftBank, the SoftBank Vision Fund, Hony Capital, Temasek, and Trustbridge partners. The announcement comes nearly a year to the day after WeWork revealed it was setting up a standalone entity in China in conjunction with SoftBank and Hony Capital, with WeWork managing the co-owned unit itself. The trio revealed at the time that WeWork China would kick off with $500 million in funding, so this latest tranche takes the subsidiary’s total money raised to the magic billion-dollar mark.
Founded in 2010, WeWork offers shared working spaces in hundreds of locations around the world, including separate businesses for China, Japan, and Pacific regions. WeWork itself has raised north of $7 billion and is already among the world’s most valuable startups — and it’s reportedly in the process of raising further funds at a valuation of $35 billion.
“This investment will help WeWork fuel our mission to support creators, small businesses, and large companies across China,” noted WeWork cofounder and CEO Adam Neumann. “WeWork has built an incredible team in China that supports our members every day, serving as a bridge for local companies who want to reach the world as well as for global companies that want to enter the Chinese market.”
Though WeWork’s China unit has only been on the go for a year, WeWork has operated hubs there for a couple of years already, and now claims 20,000 members across 40…
