SquareFoot Bought PivotDesk From Industrious

Published on February 20, 2019 - By Cecilia Amador de San José

• Industrious acquired PivotDesk in March, 2017. The team behind PivotDesk launched Central in December, 2017, however the operation was shut down ten months after.
• SquareFoot approached Industrious about buying PivotDesk.
• The sale was finalized in late December for an undisclosed amount.

Industrious acquired PivotDesk, an office-sharing marketplace, in March 2017. In December 2017, Industrious announced the launch of Central, a curated marketplace of flexible workspaces created by the team behind PivotDesk.

Ten months later, between September and October of 2018, Industrious shut down the operations of Central and PivotDesk. Though at the time Industrious was still thinking about launching Central in the future, the coworking company’s plans changed.

“So many opportunities arose for Industrious over the past two years–management contract opportunities and broader workplace management services for our clients–that we kept putting off our efforts to create a robust marketplace product,” explained Jamie Hodari, CEO of Industrious.

Suggested reading: “Rubenstein Partners Announces First Partnership with Industrious to Bring Premium Coworking into its Portfolio”

Jonathan Wasserstrum, CEO and Co-Founder of SquareFoot, reached out to Industrious when he heard that PivotDesk was being shut down.

“When SquareFoot approached us it was clear that it was a very strategic fit for their ambitions. SquareFoot was going to be a great home for PivotDesk and it was going to be a great outcome for everyone,” Hodari commented.

The sale process began shortly after Wasserstrum reached out to Industrious and it was finalized late December last year. SquareFoot purchased PivotDesk for an undisclosed amount.

SquareFoot is platform that helps small and medium-sized businesses solve their office space needs. “We take care of everything that a company needs when it comes to making real estate decisions. We provide them with an inventory of what’s available and we help them with the transaction process through brokerage services,” Wasserstrum explained.

“I have always been a fan of PivotDesk and the technology behind it” Wasserstrum added. “I believe the platform addresses a very real need in the market. For us as SquareFoot, PivotDesk is another piece of the puzzle in the platform we are building for small and medium-sized businesses.”

SquareFoot will keep PivotDesk as a separate brand, however it will work adding more features to the platform. “Our goal with  PivotDesk and SquareFoot is to build a set of tools, services, and products that make us the first and last step to help companies solve their office space needs,” Wasserstrum said.

The decision to keep both brands separate is because they cater to different market segments. PivotDesk focuses on small companies, while SquareFoot focuses on larger transactions.