Breather, the leading global provider of flexible and private workspace, announced that it has raised an approximately $45 million in additional financing led by Menlo Ventures and other firms including la Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Ascendas-Singbridge and Temasek.
Solutions for a Changing Workforce Powered by Technology
Short-term office rental services make up a multi-billion-dollar industry that provides monthly to hourly workspace rental options, including fully furnished offices, conference and meeting rooms. All types of companies, from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies, are turning toward the commercial real estate industry for private and flexible workspaces to meet their changing operating needs and to reduce costs.
While the alternative workspace industry has grown to include many players, unlike coworking, Breather has achieved significant success partnering with landlords in each of its markets to create private workspace solutions for their growing portfolios, positioning buildings for today’s changing workforce. Breather’s proprietary booking and access technology are key drivers of flexibility. The company is also focused on a more robust yield management system powered by machine learning, a unique aspect of the Breather approach and an area of focus as they continue to optimize their ability to offer modular real estate solutions for companies of all sizes.
Investing in Breather allows la Caisse to get ahead of this new real estate trend with one of its top players.
“Breather is a young, innovative and fast-growing company with great potential on the international scene,” said Christian Dubé, Executive Vice-President, Québec, at la Caisse. “Through its unique and innovative business model, Breather has demonstrated a unique capacity to position itself among the leaders in a rapidly transforming industry through a focus on technology and an ongoing emphasis to optimize yield management through machine learning. We look forward to leveraging our well-established global network in support of Breather’s expansion into new markets.”
Ascendas-Singbridge, a global investment company headquartered in Singapore, recognizes the unique opportunity Breather represents as an investment in the future of workspace.
Yi Ta Chng, CEO, Business Community & Development, at Ascendas-Singbridge said, “Businesses in Asia and worldwide increasingly seek out real estate options with more flexibility than traditional leases and other long-term commitments. We see how Breather’s innovative approach to ‘space-as-a-service’ is solving a real need in the market that other models like coworking have not and we look forward to supporting Breather in bringing that future to reality.”
Flexible Workspace Leader with More Than 500 Locations Worldwide and Growing
To date, Breather has raised nearly $120 million, demonstrating its strong capacity to succeed in the workspace rentals sector with locations in more than 300 buildings across 10 cities and more than half a million square feet worldwide. The company is notably present in New York City, San Francisco, Toronto, and London, and revolutionizing the way in which companies utilize space. Previous investors have included Menlo Ventures, Valar Ventures, RRE Ventures, Slow Ventures and Real Ventures.
“Our customers include businesses of every size, from growing startups to leading enterprise organizations, to provide space solutions that scale to their needs,” said Julien Smith, founder and CEO of Breather. “Breather enables businesses to access the space they need when they need it, with the freedom to scale usage up or down when they want to. Working with our new equity partners increases our capacity to bring that freedom to even more businesses worldwide.”
ABOUT BREATHER
Breather is the leading provider of space-as-a-service, with its growing network of private workspaces built for productivity. Breather gives businesses access to a variety of workspace solutions on the most flexible terms - by the hour, day or month with hundreds of spaces available across 10 cities including New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and London. Breather’s unique instant reservation and access technology make it easy for any business to find and keep space for as long as they need it, whether for a quick meeting, a full-day offsite or month-to-month office space for the whole team. Learn more and explore spaces at Breather.com.
ABOUT CAISSE DE DÉPÔT ET PLACEMENT DU QUÉBEC
Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) is a long-term institutional investor that manages funds primarily for public and parapublic pension and insurance plans. As at December 31, 2017, it held $298.5 billion in net assets. As one of Canada's leading institutional fund managers, CDPQ invests globally in major financial markets, private equity, infrastructure, real estate and private debt. For more information, visit cdpq.com, follow us on Twitter @LaCDPQ or consult our Facebook or LinkedIn pages.
ABOUT ASCENDAS-SINGBRIDGE
Ascendas-Singbridge Group is Asia’s leading sustainable urban development and business space solutions provider with Assets Under Management Exceeding$20 billion. Jointly owned by Temasek Holdings and JTC Corporation through a 51:49 partnership, the Group undertakes urbanisation projects spanning townships, mixed-use developments and business/industrial parks. Headquartered in Singapore, Ascendas-Singbridge has projects in 28 cities across 9 countries in Asia, including Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Singapore and South Korea. Ascendas-Singbridge holds commercial, hospitality and industrial assets across Asia Pacific. It has a substantial interest in and also manages three Singapore-listed funds under its subsidiary Ascendas, namely AscendasReit (a Straits Times Index component stock), Ascendas India Trust and Ascendas Hospitality Trust. Besides these listed funds, it also manages a series of private real estate funds.
ABOUT TEMASEK
Incorporated in 1974, Temasek is a global investment company headquartered in Singapore. Supported by its network of international offices, Temasek owns a S$275 billion (US$197b) portfolio as at 31 March 2017, with significant exposure to Singapore and the rest of Asia. Our investment activities are guided by four investment themes and the long-term trends they represent: Transforming Economies; Growing Middle Income Populations; Deepening Comparative Advantages; and Emerging Champions. Our investment strategy allows us to capture opportunities across the sectors in which we invest that help bring about a better, smarter and more connected world. For more information on Temasek, please visit www.temasek.com.sg
