WeWork buys office cleaning and management startup Managed by Q
New York (CNN Business) WeWork has swept up another startup in a bid to bolster its strength as a global workspace company.
WeWork said Wednesday it acquired Managed by Q, a New York-based startup that takes a tech-enabled approach to office services.
The 5-year-old startup helps businesses take care of crucial but unglamorous office needs, such as keeping track of cleaning and office supplies, requesting handymen and scheduling cleanings. Managed by Q's customers schedule it all via online dashboards. Unlike most on-demand companies, the startup set itself apart by hiring workers as employees instead of contractors, offering hourly wages, plus benefits like 401k plans. The company currently has about 500 employees.
WeWork acquired the company for around $200 to $250 million, according to a source familiar with the matter. The company's largest acquisition to date is Naked Hub, a Chinese coworking startup. WeWork struck a deal with the company for about $400 million last April.
Other recent WeWork acquisitions include meetings analytics platform Teem in September and Euclid, which tracks movement in the office space, in February.
Managed by Q CEO and cofounder Dan Teran said in a statement that he'll stay on as part of the deal and will continue to run the company independently within WeWork.
"Together, Managed by Q and WeWork will combine space, technology, and services to create a global workplace platform, through which companies can grow and scale," said Teran in an announcement. "The best is yet to come."
Although Managed by Q only services five US markets, WeWork's footprint spans 100 cities and 27 countries globally. In addition to its coworking business, the company's Powered by We business is a consulting service for enterprise customers that helps them design and build customized workspaces to suit their specific needs.
"Teaming up with a company like WeWork, with its unparalleled size and scale, to further the mission makes all the sense in the world," said M.G. Siegler, a general partner at Alphabet-owned GV, which invested in Managed by Q.
The Managed by Q news comes one week after WeWork released select financial results, which showed its revenue more than doubled last year to $1.8 billion but reported a $1.9 billion loss.
