Why Being a ‘Flex Aggregator’ Is Not Enough

Christophe Garnier headshot

The future of work needs more than flex aggregators. With not just a global network of bookable flex space, but innovative technology to enable better security, productivity, collaboration and planning, plus a suite of custom solutions built for every kind of hybrid and remote workplace, that’s what we’ve set out to address.

The Real Deal:

One of these so-called flex aggregators, New York-based Upflex, raised $30 million from WeWork and others months after scoring an exclusivity deal with the coworking giant. The Series A round values the startup, founded in 2018 by Christophe Garnier and Ginger Dhaliwal, at nearly $100 million, Garnier told The Real Deal.

The flex-office market has hundreds of players and is so fragmented and inefficient that employers struggle to get their far-flung employees the space they need, Garnier said.

Read the full article in The Real Deal.

Indeed, Upflex started out as a flex space aggregator — with big ambitions to enable true workplace flexibility in support of a sweeping, fundamental change in the way we work.

But over the course of the past two years, we got an up-close look at not only what employers and their workers needed to thrive in this new landscape, but that solving for the challenges of flex operators and brokers are a crucial part of the puzzle.

The comprehensive set of SaaS solutions we’re providing today — along with our global network — is not *only* about giving companies access to a broader-reaching, higher-quality global flex network of bookable workspace: It’s about creating a network that brings all these key players in the industry together — occupiers, brokers, and space operators — into one seamless, efficient ecosystem that allows all of them to thrive in a new world of work.

That’s the driving principle behind the tech and solutions we build. Raising our Series A round wasn’t easy. Everything about our approach, our margins, and our technology was scrutinized. Ultimately, partners — including some of the biggest players in CRE and some of the most forethinking investors in VC — came on board because they saw that we are looking far beyond aggregating space. We’re creating the new standard for the entirety of the flex industry.