WeWork Competitor Knotel Closes $70M Financing and Launches Blockchain Platform
The flexible office space provider has raised approximately $100 million in investment capital, and is now valued at $500 million.
NEW YORK CITY—Knotel closed a $70 million Series B financing. With this latest round of funding PitchBook, a research firm owned by Morningstar, has valued the firm at $500 million. Founded in 2106, Knotel designs and runs flexible and customized workspaces. In two years, it has opened 45 locations across New York, San Francisco and London, totaling nearly one million square feet, providing services for over 200 companies such as Starbucks, Stash and King.
The WeWorks competitor plans to use the latest funding to double in size this year, expanding in core and new markets in mid-market and enterprise businesses. It provides offices space in buildings where tenants can lease on shorter and more flexible terms.
This funding round led by Newmark Knight Frank and The Sapir Organization includes The Wolfson Group, The Moinian Group and Wainbridge Capital.
“We’re just getting started” says Amol Sarva, Knotel’s co-founder and CEO. “Giving companies the freedom of agility has been our mission from the start, and adding these partners to the team is both a validation and gateway. We couldn’t be more excited.”
Barry Gosin, CEO of Newmark Knight Frank, says what Knotel is doing is a new category that the industry has not seen and is rapidly adopting. “We’ve watched their ascent from a distance and are now thrilled to join them on the journey,” he says. “It marks a shift in how owners and tenants are coming together.”
Last year Knotel raised $25 million in its Series A round with investors including Bloomberg Beta, Invest AG, Observer Capital, Rocket Internet and 500 Startups. This brings the capital raised to close to $100 million. Knotel also recently launched Knotel Koin, a blockchain platform for CRE data searches and transactions. Blockchain is the technology behind cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Last month, Knotel hired Rachel Meranus as its first CMO, whose previous experience included raising funds as CMO at Olapic, a visual technology marketer.