Since launching in 2014, European coworking brand Mindspace has experienced an extraordinary startup journey.
In just three years, the Israeli workspace brand has amassed 13 locations across four European countries, and with an extra $15 million in series A funding in its pocket, there’s plenty more to come.
In a telephone interview, Allwork.Space spoke with Mindspace co-founder Dan Zakai to learn the latest.
Since launching in Tel Aviv in 2014, Dan and co-founder Yotam Alroy have created a flexible workspace portfolio spanning Israel, Poland and Germany, with their UK debut coming in December 2017. Members include corporates like Barclays Bank, Samsung and M&C Saatchi alongside startups and small businesses.
So what’s the secret to their phenomenal success?
“We get asked that question a lot!” says Dan. “I believe it is our attention to detail, which we take to the extreme.”
Mindspace focuses on two key priorities: “We only pick the best locations. They are always in central, trendy areas with excellent accessibility. Also, we are fanatical about workplace design.”
“All of our spaces are designed in a vintage style influenced by the area — for instance, we buy furniture from local flea markets and tap into the local art scene.”
Mindspace infuses originality into their spaces to spark creativity, which in turn taps into another key priority: their community.
“We are passionate about building communities,” says Dan. “We hand-pick our team members and take great care to create a space that is inspirational for our members. For us, it’s about connecting people and making the most out of what’s happening in and around the space.”
Across so many different cities — from Tel Aviv to Berlin to Warsaw — there is no one-size-fits-all approach. How does Mindspace tune into the local culture to create a balanced community?
“That’s one of the most exciting parts of our business,” says Dan. “We aim to create an international community and build bridges — it’s challenging, but it’s also fun!
“We find that our members happily move from one location to another because they look for the same type of product; they are typically global-minded and multicultural, and Mindspace fits their expectations so in effect, our adjustments are minor.”
Funding for US expansion
Earlier this year, Allwork.Space asked Mindspace what they plan to do with the $15 million in series A funding they raised from private investors.
At the time, Dan hinted at further expansion in Germany and a planned entry into the US, made possible by the aforementioned investment plus other “various sources of funding”.
Six months on, Dan says they expect to have over 20 locations in the Mindspace portfolio by the end of 2017.
While he wouldn’t give too much away, he says they intend to launch in “multiple major US cities, simultaneously” with plans to make their US debut before the end of the year.
This rapid expansion, he says, is made possible thanks to a lot of pre-launch planning and fine-tuning:
“In our first couple of years, we focused on building our product and our brand, making sure that our offering is as good as it could be. Now we’re in our expansion phase, and it’s happening very quickly.”
In addition to the US, Mindspace also plans to continue its growth in Europe, with a particular emphasis on more German cities, and in the UK.
“We want to become established in London, and we are opening our first location there in December. We plan to have more locations there, coming soon.”
Asked how he plans to challenge the increasingly competitive market in Central London, Dan responded:
“London is a great city, it’s home to the biggest European tech hub and it has a huge coworking market, one of the most advanced in the world. The city embraces coworking and over the last couple of years, demand for coworking in London has become very strong.
“We believe that our product stands out, there’s strong competition but we feel there’s room for Mindspace. We’ve perfected our product, we’re ready — and now we feel that London is ready for us, too!”
Feature image: Mindspace
