BEIJING, June 23, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Ucommune (Beijing) Venture Investment Ltd (known as Ucommune) is looking to expand on its current strong array of products in Singapore, the tech hub of Southeast Asia. Ucommune seeks to break the current market perception as the dark horse in the global co-working space, in a bid to make headways as the market leader.
After acquiring rivals such as Workingdom and Woo Space, Ucommune repositioned its business strategy to meet demands for more office space from Small Medium Enterprises (SME) to Multi-National Companies (MNCs) in Singapore. Ucommune is also present in major business hubs in Greater China and America and is valued at US$1.7 billion. They are exploring more expansion opportunities in Southeast Asia (SEA) -- with Singapore being its first strategic pit-stop, as shown by favourable office locations in One-North and Suntec.
Singapore has been a successful test-bed for Ucommune's initial expansion strategy. Therefore, Ucommune raised an additional C+ round of multi-million US Dollars in venture capital funding to expand its SEA footprint. This success shows that the investors are confident in the prospect of SEA beyond just the traditional power house of China and USA. Ucommune foresees a 17% annual growth rate for the next 5 years for on-demand workspace in SEA. Therefore, Ucommune seeks to provide reliable, timely and long-term solution to the region.
Ucommune Meets Growing Requirement for Flexible Office Spaces
Ucommune's flexible workspace is a good fit for the changing working habits of Singaporean employees. A recent Gartner survey showed that 93% of employees achieved greater productivity with flexible working spaces and 63% of employees are out of office for at least one day a week. Start-ups who choose co-working space are known to save as much as $4,000 in rent every year.
Based on its Q1 findings, fixed office space rental increased by 1.3% which resulted in 12.5% increase in vacancy rate island-wide in Singapore. Local businesses are attuned to manpower fluidity with contract-based hires which force their business model to adapt to co-working space arrangement to cut unnecessary costs on unused space.
"Singapore has always been a hotspot to groom entrepreneurs especially in the fintech and blockchain fields over the last 5 years. Government initiatives such as Smart Nation is a major boost. Singapore offers a strong pool of talents within its start-up ecosystem and we are keen to connect businesses with one another for meaningful collaboration. All this happens within the comfort of a co-working hybrid space," said Dr. Mao Daqing, Founder of Ucommune. He is confident in broadening Ucommune's footprints in Singapore. Ucommune will show unwavering support towards Singapore's direction of becoming the globally recognized innovation hub.
Innovation Amid Fierce Competition
The fierce competition of co-working space providers influenced Ucommune to seek out solutions to differentiate itself. Its member-oriented approach minimises time and cost and maximise productivity.
Ucommune integrates smart technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI) into its product offering for its competitive advantage and creates a level playing field for its tenants with tech start-ups. Ucommune is not a mere office space provider.
Ucommune has rolled out in-house initiatives such as UBespoke (a made-to-order Design consultancy system to shorten facility-conversion planning and execution period by 60%), and online mobile app UBazaar (an exclusive online to offline (O2O) service catered to Ucommune members). These are evidence of Ucommune's long term dedication to delivering smart co-working solutions conveniently to young companies.
"The emergence of tech start-ups in Singapore is unparalleled thus far, putting it on par with buzzing fintech hubs of London and China. Singapore is a hospitable second-home to align ongoing projects within the Smart Nation initiatives. Ucommune recognises this as an opportune time to onboard local and foreign SMEs with our growing pool of membership network," said Dr. Mao.
Optimistic performance; Higher hopes for more in near future
Ucommune established itself as a co-working space leader and disrupter within just three years of establishment. Ucommune opened its first office in Singapore within two months of its presence in April 2018 at JTC LaunchPad @ OneNorth. Soon after, Ucommune soft-opened its second office in Suntec Tower Two in March, 2018 which tripled its workstations from 118 to 418 in 20,689 square feet.
As its One-North office has over 90% occupancy, Ucommune expects some tenants to move to its Suntec offices which is preparing exciting AI functions such as facial recognition and UBazaar for O2O services.
Singapore is a springboard for foreign tech start-ups and the importance of a conducive co-working space should not be underestimated for a company who wish to establish a strong presence in the Southeast Asia region. Ucommune is committed to work hand-in-hand with companies to propel them into the international spotlight that shines utmost recognition, reputation, and respect.
About UrWork (Beijing) Venture Investment Co., Ltd:
Founded in 2015 by real-estate veteran Dr. Mao Daqing, Ucommune (formerly known as URwork) is a leading co-working space provider in China offering long-term leasing, hot desk and corporate-customization solutions and professional services across a broad spectrum for small-to-medium enterprises. Backed by renowned investors such as Sequoia Capital, Zhen Fund, Noah Wealth Management, Sinovation Ventures, Ucommune posts a valuation of U.S. $1.7 billion after C round and acquisition of Woo Space, Wedo Space, and Workingdom, as of May 2017 and has grown to cover over 160 locations in over 36 cities globally, including but limited to Singapore, New York, Los Angeles, Beijing, Taiwan, Hongkong, Shanghai, servicing over 7,000 enterprises, 120,000 individual members in total. Ucommune is the largest and most recognised co-working space brand in China.
Media Contact:
Amanda Shi
Ucommune Venture Investment Ltd
Email: shinan@ucommune.cn
Helena Ma
Ucommune PR Support
Email: helena.ma@ideacommunication.co
