softbank-backed gympass signs office space deal with wework
Contxto – Office-sharing startup WeWork closed a leasing agreement with Brazilian Gympass for a three year term, according to sources on January 26. As a result, the Brazilian unicorn will host 250 members of its staff in WeWork’s spaces in Manhattan’s SoHo area.
It’s unknown how much Gympass will shell out for these stylish facilities.
SoftBank helps out WeWork
Certainly, SoftBank—an investor in both startups—had a role to play in getting this pair into the same room to talk. That is, in an attempt to fill WeWork’s lean coffers with money.
Now it’s not the first time WeWork is the home to one of SoftBank’s portfolio companies.
According to Reuters, Uber and Brazil’s QuintoAndar have staff in WeWork offices. Moreover, it’s estimated that around 25,000 employees from the Japanese investor’s portfolio occupy these co-working spaces.
Related article: Brazil’s Gympass gets spotted by Gym Plus as the startup tries to lift the European market
GymPass tech hubs
What’s interesting to note is the large number of Gympass employees that will be in this New York City office. My guess is it probably has something to do with the tech hub it opened in the Big Apple last September.
In it, multidisciplinary teams have gathered to develop the startup’s artificial intelligence (AI) technology. Likewise, this hub is exploring how to better leverage the data that’s been gathered from users, partnering businesses, gyms, etc.
And of course, let’s not forget that more recently, the Brazilian unicorn bought Portuguese AI startup, Flaner, last December. It was a key acquisition for the startup to set up an additional tech hub in the Old Continent.
Certainly one of Gympass’ biggest bets is on machine learning. So I’d say sometime during this year we’ll start to see features or products related to all this AI hubbub (no pun intended).
Wanna hear more? We recommend you listen to the following podcast episode: Despegar adquiere a Best Day – La regulación de trasporte chilena, Gympass firma con WeWork. You can find the time stamp available in the description.
Related articles: Tech and startups in Brazil!
-ML
