Workbox, a nationwide workspace operator based in Chicago, which has seen phenomenal development since its founding in 2019, successfully raised $17.5 million in its Series A equity transaction, with a follow-on opportunity for obtaining an additional $5.5 million. In advance of its subsequent distribution, Workbox has raised a total of over $25 million in capital to date.
This round of funding, led by Chicago Atlantic, will enable Workbox to quickly expand its coworking space portfolio throughout the U.S. As one of the fastest-growing operators in the country, Workbox has 10 sites spread across five cities. This month, new facilities were announced for Chicago and Dallas. The extra funding offers Workbox a substantial amount of liquidity at a time when the majority of the industry is still capital-restricted.
Workbox’s Co-Founder and CEO John Wallace said the following: “The flexible office sector stands to be the single biggest driver of office space demand in this new era of work. We see the term ‘flexible office’ becoming synonymous with ‘office,’ a sentiment already validated through the growth in hybrid employment, employee flexibility, geographically fragmented workforces, double income households, and the rapid acceleration of small business formation.”
Wallace also added that “Workbox has more than doubled its revenue annually since inception, but it took a capital partner with the ability to look beyond office market headlines to see the true size of our opportunity in this trillion-dollar sector. The current environment has opened a path for reimagining the workplace and realigning owner and operator interests in a sustainable way. Chicago Atlantic brings over $2.1 billion in AUM, investment experience in both private equity and credit, public markets experience through a NASDAQ-listed REIT, and a nuanced understanding of how operating structure and design affect industry successes and failures.”
John Mazarakis, a Founding Partner at Chicago Atlantic, also commented the following regarding Workbox’s evolution and potential on the market: “Workbox has been quietly pioneering the industry in both customer acquisition and structure innovation since it began. We’ve been impressed by its hands-on approach to operations and management, a strategy we believe will sustain their growth and performance long-term. We are proud to utilize Workbox for our firm and to build on our partnership with this significant investment.”
