WeWork Opens Its Startup Incubator ‘WeWork Labs’ in Portland
WeWork has been working proficiently in the field of developing better coworking spaces and programs for startups. Their latest venture is developing a WeWork startup incubator lab in Portland to help startups gain momentum.
Out of the three startup incubators in the lineup, this is the first to open up shop while the plan for the rest of them is ready and awaiting development. Seattle was the first location on the West Coast for WeWork Labs which saw its dawn in the previous month.
The basic WeWork services include mentoring, educating budding entrepreneurs, furnishing talent, and legal representation. Added to this they also provide legal help to their members plus human resources assistance. The startup incubator ups a notch by helping the organizations make acquaintance with their global network.
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Stephen Green is the community director at WeWork and he has been given the responsibility to run Portland’s incubator. Green was previously a venture associate at Elevate Capital and has worked under the government as an officer with the Portland Development Commission.
Unlike other incubators and accelerators that also aim to help startups, the WeWork incubator is a bit different in its approach. They do want an equity share in your startup, they will charge you the normal rent for using their space. Another WeWork representative Elizabeth Scallon who looks after the Northwest Zone and the lab programs run in the region opened up about this venture. She called the new incubator at Portland “more of a curated, hand-holding experience for the startups.”
When compared to other coworking spaces Scallon propogated that “it’s providing those resources so that they can succeed at a faster rate.”
Coworkers and entrepreneurs prefer WeWork due to an obvious reason for its widespread network. Their presence in more than 100 countries of the world really calls for some accolades for the organization for spreading the new culture. Added to this WeWork has assisted numerous startups and organizations to connect with prominent stakeholders and clients in the business world.
In order to become a part of the WeWork family, you need to register yourself with one of their coworking spaces operating in different cities. Although WeWork Labs is not operating in all of its coworking spaces, they are planning to embed the coworking spaces with a new model of operation.
Until then apart from Portland and Seattle the WeWork Labs is located in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Washington DC, and Dallas in the US. Worldwide you can find them in Canada, Israel, South Korea, China, and India.
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The inception of WeWork Labs was seen in the year 2011, with the first lab filling up within the first 24 hours. After that, the concept has been improved and made better every day. All these efforts amalgamated with each other to build a strong community and network of resources, expertise, and creativity in one place.
After this venture, the people of Frankfurt London will get their own WeWork lab. January 2019 has been chosen to establish another of these labs to further the trend of coworking spaces and incubators.