SparkPlus, A South Korean Co-Working Space Provider Raises US$ 25.2M In Series B

‘SparkPlus, a South Korean co-working space provider has raised 30 billion won (US$ 25.2 million) in series B funding round. The investors who participated in the round are Aju Hotels & Resorts, SME-focused investment company Aju IB Investment, local real estate firm from Koramco, venture capital firm STIC Ventures and Wooshin Venture Investment. In series A round in 2018 Sparkplus secured 20 billion won (US$17 million approx).

The company was founded in the year 2016. Sparkplus opened its first co-working space in Yeoksam in southern Seoul. Across the capital, it has a total of 12 locations. In Gangnam and Gwangwhamun areas alone it covers a total of eight locations. In these 12 locations, it covers about 36,363 square meters of space with a total of 8,500 seats. The company claims about 95% occupancy overall

The investment is significant for the industry as it comes at a time when there are global concerns related to the co-working space industry due to the failure of WeWork’s initial public offering plans. Sparkplus CEO Mok Jin-gun admitted that the investors are concerned about the recent IPO fiasco of the US coworking space giant.

Mok Jin-gun said, “Although our investors also expressed concerns after WeWork’s plans faltered, they knew that Sparkplus is different from competitors since it has a solid business model. I think WeWork was able to achieve fast growth in a short period of time, but failed to find a way to grow in a sustainable manner.”

He also expressed confidence that WeWork would bounce back in a few years and the entire co-working space industry model is quite robust and set for growth.