Editor’s note: WORQ is a winner of the Best Community Builder, TNGlobal’s ORIGIN Innovation Awards 2021.
Malaysia-based co-working space provider WORQ is in talks to raise $8.46 million (MYR40 million) for its Series B fundraising round, its Co-Founder said on Monday.
“We are actually in discussions, still in the midst of discussions with a couple of investors. The round is still targeted at MYR40 million,” Andrew Yeow, who is also the Chief Financial Officer, told reporters.
“At the moment, we do get a lot of landlord partners who are keen to have us in their spaces. The urgency for that [fundraising] is not as urgent anymore. And also, we don’t run on a runway because we are profitable,” WORQ Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Stephanie Ping explained. “So we try to get the best deal for ourselves.”
WORQ announced in October last year that it has completed its pre-Series B fundraising round, backed by 14 follow-on investors.
Asset management firm Phillip Capital helmed the pre-Series B round with its largest placement to-date and its third consecutive investment into WORQ. Other investors include the Leong family office of Malaysia-listed property developer Mah Sing Group.
WORQ’s earlier investors include Cradle Fund, SMG, 500 Global through its subsidiary 500 Durians LLC, among others, its Linkedin page showed.
On Monday, WORQ has entered into a strategic partnership with Sunway Putra Mall and launched its eighth outlet at the mall. Spanning 20,000 sq ft, the outlet has achieved 100 percent occupancy since its opening in January.
Sunway Real Estate Investment Trusts CEO Clement Chen said Sunway Group is exploring other collaboration opportunities with WORQ.
“It has been a very happy partnership so far. On that basis, there’s no reason we shouldn’t explore further. I understand that the teams are talking,” he said, adding that such collaboration may not be limited to Sunway REIT’s properties but the entire Sunway Group’s properties.
Listed on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia, Sunway REIT is one of the largest diversified REITs in Malaysia, with a diverse portfolio located across integrated townships in Greater Kuala Lumpur, Penang, and Perak. Sunway Group is a Malaysia-headquartered conglomerate with core interests in real estate, construction, education, healthcare, retail, and hospitality.
As co-working demand rises, WORQ aims to operate up to 450,000 sq ft of co-working space by 2025, with a 23 percent market share. It also aims to increase its ‘space under management’ to 1 million sq ft with more than 35 percent market share by 2028. Currently, WORQ’s ‘space under management’ stood at 200,000 sq ft, according to Yeow.
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