- WeWork’s $3 billion Chinese rival, Ucommune, has its eyes on a 2020 US IPO that could raise as much as $200 million for the communal workspace company, Bloomberg reported Thursday.
- Ucommune was founded in 2015 with backing from Sequoia Capital China. The company was reportedly valued at $3 billion in a 2018 funding round.
- It’s not the first time Ucommune has set a date to go public. The Information reported in February that the company hired Citigroup and JPMorgan for a 2019 IPO on Nasdaq.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
WeWork’s Chinese rival, Ucommune, has its eyes on a 2020 IPO which could raise as much as $200 million for the communal office space company, Bloomberg reported Thursday.
Ucommune is looking to go public in the US market for a cash infusion to help it compete with the SoftBank-backed WeWork, according to the report.
Ucommune did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Beijing-based Ucommune was founded in 2015 with seed funding from Sequoia Capital China. The company was last valued at $3 billion in a 2018 funding round, according to TechCrunch.
The Information reported in February that Ucommune was aiming to go public on Nasdaq in late 2019, after shifting away from earlier plans to list in Hong Kong. The company hired Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase to lead the IPO at a $3 billion valuation, according to that report.
Ucommune faces an uphill battle for dominance against its competitor, WeWork, which has a $47 billion valuation and is propped up by billions of dollars in investments from SoftBank.
Read more: WeWork isn’t even close to being profitable — it loses $219,000 every hour of every day
Yet WeWork dominates in the US, and Ucommune has carved out a similar niche with highly styled shared workspaces in the Asian market. The company reportedly has plans to go to London and Los Angeles. So far, it’s expanded into 37 cities with 200 different locations, according to its website.
Got a tip about an upcoming IPO, acquisition, or major funding round? Contact the author at bpeterson@businessinsider.com or over Twitter direct message @beckpeterson. Secure messaging available upon request.
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Source: Business Insider – bpeterson@businessinsider.com (Becky Peterson)