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News In Brief Business and Economy

WeWork Co-founder's Startup Value Crosses $1 billion Before Launch

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WeWork Co-founder's Startup Value Crosses $1 billion Before Launch
19 Aug 2022
6 min read

News Synopsis

Adam Neumann, the co-founder and former CEO of flexible workspace provider WeWork, has acquired about $350 million in funding from renowned investment firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) for his planned new rental real estate company, dubbed Flow. Flow is now valued at over $1 billion thanks to the investment, making it a unicorn firm. 

"We are thrilled to collaborate on Flow with Adam Neumann and his team. Marc Andreessen wrote in a blog post recently that Adam is a visionary leader who "revolutionized the second-largest asset class in the world, commercial real estate, by adding community and brand to an industry in which neither existed previously. Adam is returning to the theme of connecting people by transforming their physical spaces and creating communities where people spend the most time: their homes, the author continued. "We think it is natural that for his first venture since WeWork, Adam returns to the theme of connecting people through their homes. 

Flowcarbon, Neumann's Blockchain-based carbon credit network, received a $70 million investment from a16z in May. We recognize how challenging it is to create something of this magnitude, and we adore watching previous founders build on their achievements by learning from mistakes, according to Andreessen. It is still obvious how Flow intends to transform the residential housing sector. 

According to sources, the website for Flow now contains only two sentences announcing its arrival in 2023 and the motto "Live life in flow." At one point valued at $47 billion, WeWork underwent a catastrophic period before going public. With a termination package of hundreds of millions of dollars, Neumann was fired from his position as WeWork's chief executive. 

 

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