WeWork’s well-known implosion may seem to be a PR nightmare that will be unimaginable for an government to get better from, spawning each a TV sequence and documentary that chronicled the workplace leasing firm’s failure.
On Monday, that assumption proved false when billionaire Marc Andreessen introduced plans for a significant funding in Move, a brand new actual property firm by WeWork founder Adam Neumann.
That funding is claimed to be value $350 million, in response to reporting by the New York Occasions, and represents the most important single funding that Andreessen’s enterprise capital agency, Andreessen Horowitz, has ever made. The billionaire’s funding historical past consists of early stakes in tech giants like Fb-parent Meta, Twitter, and Skype—that means that his help of Move has severe weight.
The newest funding set Move’s valuation at over $1 billion.
WeWork collapsed in 2019, falling in worth from over $40 billion to only $4 billion as we speak after an advanced preliminary public providing. Because it sputtered, the corporate, which aimed to revolutionize office tradition by way of subleased coworking areas, ousted Neumann as CEO.
Andreessen made his announcement about investing in Neumann’s newest firm in a weblog submit on his agency’s web site on Monday, citing the necessity for funding in innovation within the U.S. actual property sector. “The demographic traits driving America’s housing market are unimaginable to disregard: Our nation is creating households sooner than we’re constructing homes,” the submit begins.
Although exact particulars about Move’s enterprise and mission are scarce, Andreessen implies that it goals to disrupt perceived dangerous developments in how People presently work and dwell. The corporate is predicted to launch subsequent yr.
Neither homeownership nor renting are presently in a position to meet most individuals’s wants, wrote Andreessen in his submit, a predicament that COVID made extra difficult. “Consequently, [people] will expertise a lot much less, if any, of the in-office social bonding and friendships that native staff take pleasure in,” he wrote in regards to the rise of working from house. Presumably, Move is supposed to treatment these dynamics.
In his submit, Andreessen additionally addressed Neumann’s previous failure with WeWork. “We perceive how tough it’s to construct one thing like this and we love seeing repeat-founders construct on previous successes by rising from classes discovered,” he wrote. “For Adam, the successes and classes are lots, and we’re excited to go on this journey with him and his colleagues constructing the way forward for dwelling.”
By specializing in structural issues within the American housing market, Monday’s funding announcement echoes a submit Andreessen wrote in 2020 referred to as “It’s Time to Construct” wherein he advocated for a rise in housing initiatives within the U.S.
“We are able to’t construct practically sufficient housing in our cities with surging financial potential—which leads to crazily skyrocketing housing costs in locations like San Francisco, making it practically unimaginable for normal individuals to maneuver in and take the roles of the long run,” he identified. The answer, he wrote, is to construct extra housing: a mindset colloquially often known as YIMBY, or “sure in my yard.”
Earlier this month, The Atlantic revealed that Andreessen doesn’t truly adhere to that philosophy. The publication uncovered public paperwork displaying him and his spouse opposing the creation of multifamily dwelling models near the place they dwell in Atherton, Calif. The city has been named the richest zip code within the U.S. for 5 consecutive years.
Join the Fortune Options e-mail listing so that you don’t miss our largest options, unique interviews, and investigations.
