WeWork Announces WeWork Labs Landing in Greater China

Initiative Empowers Startups to Excel with Extensive Network
And Creates New Possibilities for Innovation Across the Globe
Riding on the thriving development of innovative startups, WeWork officially announced the launch of WeWork Labs in Greater China, further expanding the scope of products and services WeWork offers in the market. Since its establishment in 2018, WeWork Labs is WeWork’s innovation platform that supports early-stage startups and corporations seeking to transform their industries in 32 cities of 15 countries globally. Focused on the growth of early-stage startups and powering the future of corporate innovation, WeWork Labs’ mission is to make the resources startups need much more accessible.
WeWork Labs serves as a cornerstone of WeWork’s commitment for the Greater China market. With the vision of supporting local enterprises and innovators, as well as aligning with Central Government’s direction on “promoting China’s innovation-led economic growth by focusing on China and joining hands with local partners,” WeWork will continue to implement the strategy of “based in China and promote the development of innovation economy with local partners”. With the rapid transformation from “made in China” to “created in China” in Mainland China, WeWork Labs will build an extensive social network to support and bring Mainland China’s innovations onto the international stage.
Currently, WeWork Labs has 3 offices in Shanghai with 46 member companies. In 2019, WeWork Labs will continue to expand its business in Greater China and further accelerate its growth of network from Shanghai to other cities such as Beijing, Shenzhen and Hangzhou. It is expected that 8 to 10 physical locations will be opened in the future.
In addition, to help establish a quality ecosystem for startups and demonstrate WeWork’s determination to support the Mainland China market, WeWork Labs has established long-term partnership with key partners from enterprises and universities including Alibaba Cloud, Guanghua School of Management, X-elerator of Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management. International exchange program, professional consultancy training program and global resources sharing program are to be organized to support the younger generation in exploring the Mainland China as well as overseas markets. WeWork Labs will capitalize on its global network and the close collaboration with prestigious partners in Mainland China to optimize the ecosystem of startups and enterprises.
Since the launch of its commercial operating system A100 initiative, Alibaba has been creating industry solutions with its clients to support overseas enterprises to enter the Mainland market. As a leading cloud computing company in Mainland China, Alibaba Cloud has offered a comprehensive, secure and reliable global service support for online business of international clients and the e-commerce ecosystem of the Alibaba Group. Leveraging its partnership, WeWork Labs and Alibaba Cloud will co-build an innovation center, offering incubation services for innovative startups and setting up industry incubation fund. They will also introduce 8 WeWork Labs to different cities in Mainland China, encouraging overseas enterprises to develop in the local market while supporting enterprises to expand abroad. Alibaba Cloud will provide innovative online resources, ecosystem offers and other convenient services for all WeWork Labs members across different WeWork communities in Mainland China. At the same time, both parties will join efforts in conducting international exchange program for members and non-members, creating opportunities for sustainable growth and development of startups, as well as organizing WeWork Labs member sharing days and startup competition for members. The collaboration of WeWork and Alibaba Cloud once again signify WeWork’s commitment on empowering enterprises in Mainland China to promote creativity and innovation in their industries.
Moreover, WeWork has established strategic partnership with the Guanghua School of Management and the X-elerator of Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management. The partnership aims to nurture talents, inspire creative minds and promote innovative technologies through its global consultancy and business incubation program, international exchange program and the global innovation resources of WeWork Labs across the global WeWork communities. With the strategy in “Entrepreneurship and Innovation” and the vision of “complementary advantages and win-win cooperation” in mind, the program aims at cultivating more innovative talents for the business sector and contributing to the development of an innovative nation in the new era.
“We are proud and thrilled to witness and support Mainland China to lead the global enterprise transformation in the future on an international level,” said WeWork Labs global head Roee Adler. “Entrepreneurs in Greater China are tackling challenges around the globe with inspiring talent and solutions. WeWork Labs is committed to supporting products and services made and created in Mainland China by connecting them to the world with a brand-new platform. Being able to bring WeWork Labs to Greater China and team up with entrepreneurs to pursue meaningful and world-changing ideas is an honor for us.”
“With its robust development, WeWork Labs will help startups across different sectors develop and transform in different stages and offer comprehensive and multi-dimensional long-term support for the future development of its members,” said Huang Di, Head of WeWork Labs, Greater China. “This is the best timing for WeWork Labs to meet its members in Mainland China and support local innovative talents, continuing to inspire the new generation and let their ideas shine.”
“This cooperation with WeWork once again proves collective efforts of our strengths and resources can solidify development of the innovative economy in Mainland China. We will join hands in establishing a more powerful ecosystem for innovative startups, gathering quality resources of both organizations to promote the blooming of budding startups, so as to further enhance the exchange between startups from Mainland China and around the globe,” said Liu Xiangwen, General Manager of Intelligent Strategy and Partnership of Alibaba Cloud.
“Tsinghua SEM X-elerator is an innovative startup platform established for global entrepreneurs by Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management. It strives to build an entrepreneur-centric value-added system. WeWork Labs, as a global startup service center, shares the vision of Tsinghua SEM X-elerator, that it also focuses on growth of early-stage startups. We look forward to seeing the two featured platforms to create synergies and empower more startups to grow and realize their dream,” said Dr. Li Jizhen, the Associate Dean of Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management.
“Thanks to the exchange program of WeWork Labs, I was granted the opportunity to attend professional tutoring sessions in the WeWork Labs community in New York and meet creative and passionate people in events of different scales, which is truly inspiring,” said Zhang Ting, Founder of FitTripper, a member of WeWork Labs. “I was amazed to become a member of WeWork Labs. The sense of belonging, the support in products and services and the extraordinary office space are beyond our imagination,” said Wang Yan-Ping, Founder of i-Drc, a company that helps builders to access secure construction services instead of purchasing HVAC equipment. “WeWork Labs is a place where we see miracles happen,” said Zhao Chang, Founder of REmakeHub, a brand-new social enterprise that strives to promote social change.