Workbox

Last Thursday, we hosted our first event at Workbox's newest location in Chicago's Fulton Market neighborhood, welcoming over 100 people for our "Behind the Scenes: Venture Capital in 2024" panel, followed by a Workbox mixer!

We kicked things off with a lively fireside chat with the Founder and CEO of Kin Insurance, Sean Harper, covering his founder journey and what it takes to be an impactful business in 2024. Following the fireside chat, we dove into a panel discussion moderated by Workbox Advisor Leslee Cohen, featuring Alex Acker of Tawani Ventures, Victoria Leon of Hyde Park Ventures, Jeff Lampe of Customers Bank, and Brian Crump of Chicago Early Growth Ventures. The panel explored how venture investors are navigating the current funding landscape, from active pre-seed through Series B investors to funds that allocate capital on a deal-by-deal basis.

As always, we would like to thank our wonderful partners at Justworks , CLA , Allrise Legal Counsel, and P33Chicago for helping facilitate such an incredible evening! Scroll through this post to see some of the highlights from the evening.

A Local's Guide to Downtown Minneapolis🌟

Explore the Twin Cities like a true local with recommendations from our very own Barbara Goodman and Julie Jorgensen, the Operations team at our Downtown Minneapolis location. Whether you're craving delicious food or looking for a unique activity, we've got you covered! Scroll through our local's guide to the city and discover something new!

• Smack Shack Twin Cities : Enjoy a casual costal dining experience located at 603 N Washington Ave. Between the irresistible lobster rolls, a lively atmosphere, and refreshing cocktails, you're bound to find something that keeps you coming back.

• First Avenue & 7th St Entry : Dive into the iconic music scene at First Avenue, located at 701 N 1st Ave. This renowned concert venue and bar have been a cornerstone of the Minneapolis culture since 1970.

• Brit's Pub : Savor English cuisine and pints at Brit's Pub located at 1110 Nicollet Mall. Brit's Pub features a full bar and the unique feature of rooftop lawn bowling. It's the perfect place to kickback, relax, and have fun.

Workbox was proud to serve as both a sponsor and a host for the 3rd annual TechChicago Week this year, with thousands of attendees gathering to celebrate Chicago's incredible and growing tech ecosystem.

From an "out of this world" keynote from Dr. Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman to travel into space, to a fireside chat with Chicago Sky Co-Owner Nadia Rawlinson. From a packed Workbox rooftop consumer breakfast (shoutout Ellie Bahrmasel) to hearing Common freestyle about the Chicago tech ecosystem. All capped off with a closing party featuring Grammy nominated artist Jeremih. Safe to say, the week had it all!

Scroll through this post to see some of the highlights from last week!

Thank you to our always incredible partners at P33, including Tifair Hamed, Claude Cimeus, Rebecca Lockowitz, Leen Bynat, and so many others. We can't wait for next year!

Go, Cubs, Go!

We recently took a trip to the "Friendly Confines" to see our Cubbies play for our team summer outing!

Thank you to the most incredible and dedicated staff around for yet another milestone year!

Last night we had the pleasure of hearing from Chicago Sky Co-Owner and Chairwoman, Nadia Rawlinson. Nadia offered up some incredible insights from her career journey, spanning from leading HR at some of the nation's largest corporations to balancing being a new mom and a businesswoman to the exciting leap into professional sports ownership.

One thing we learned from Nadia last night was to never be afraid of being excellent. In Nadia's words: "Be excellent. Full stop!"

Scroll through the photos in this post to see some fun highlights from the evening!

We would like to give a big thank you to host and moderator, Claude Cimeus, and another big thank you to P33 Chicago, , of America, and Merrill Lynch, for helping make this event possible.

Join us on August 8th at our newest location in Fulton Market, and get the inside scoop on the way founders and venture investors are approaching the current funding environment. From a fireside chat featuring Sean Harper of Kin Insurance, to a panel discussion of some of the most active venture investors, you'll leave this event with a better understanding of the entrepreneurial landscape in 2024.

Networking and Happy Hour to follow immediately after!

Panel Includes:
Leslee Cohen | AllRise Legal Counsel
Alexander Acker | Tawani Ventures
Brian Crump | Chicago Early Growth Ventures
Victoria Leon | Hyde Park Venture Partners
Jeffrey J. Lampe, CFA | Customers Bank

Register here today! https://www.eventbrite.com/e/behind-the-scenes-venture-capital-in-2024-presented-by-workbox-ventures-tickets-948280621867?aff=oddtdtcreator

Behind-the-Scenes: Venture Capital in 2024. Presented by Workbox Ventures. Get the inside scoop on the way venture investors are approaching the current funding environment.

TechChicago Day is right around the corner!

Join us July 25th at Sterling Bay in Lincoln Yards for another exciting TechChicago Day!

Alongside TechChicago and P33, Workbox will be there celebrating the diversity of Chicago's tech ecosystem - from the tech, to the companies, the people, the food and the culture.

Register today here: https://events.eventnoire.com/e/tcw24-day

TechChicago Week 2024: TechChicago Day | Eventnoire TechChicago Day is the flagship event for TechChicago Week 2024 hosted by P33! This event is a celebration of the diversity of Chicago's tech ecosystem - from the tech, the companies, the people, the food and the culture. Anyone and everyone will find something at TechChicago Day - from seasoned t...

Who doesn’t want to start a summer day on one of Chicago’s beautiful private rooftops? Join the consumer startup community for breakfast this Thursday at Workbox River North before heading to TechChicago day!

Stop by and learn from some very inspiring founders, operators, investors, and champions for all things consumer related in Chicago!

Thank you to all the wonderful sponsors for making this happen:
Supply Change
Starting Line
Listen Ventures
Tonic Ventures
SavorWe
FARE
Pie
Further Faster Ventures

RSVP for details here: https://bit.ly/TCWconsumerbrekky2024

TechChicago Week Consumer Breakfast You've got an invite.

Hey Chicago! Are you ready for the third annual TechChicago Week on July 22-25?

Workbox is a proud sponsor of TechChicago Week 2024, and we are excited to be the official Coworking Lounge and Charging Station in partnership with P33 Chicago! Stop by, say hello, recharge, and learn what we're all about.

Don't miss out on a whole week of activations and thoughtful discussions centered around Chicago's unique and growing tech ecosystem!

Learn more at gotechchicago.com/week

TechChicago Week 2024 – TechChicago  July 22 – 26, 2024 About Through TechChicago, we are amplifying Chicago’s unique tech ecosystem and highlighting culture, inclusive access, opportunities, and conversations to build community and positively impact our city. TechChicago Week 2024 is the third annual week-long celebration across...

From all of us at Workbox, Happy 4th of July! 🎇

We hope your holiday if full of BBQ, friends and family!

Join us in welcoming our 2024 Intern class! These talented students have already made their marks across our Finance, Marketing, Real Estate, and Ventures departments. Over the course of the summer, Lupe Gaspar, Cole Hillner, and Miles Reeves will continue to work on real projects and gain industry insights, all while bringing fresh perspectives to their teams. We're thrilled to have them on the Workbox team and can't wait to see what's next for each of them!

To read more about our 2024 Summer Intern class follow this link:
https://www.workboxcompany.com/meet-our-summer-interns/

Intern Spotlight: Meet Our 2024 Interns! | Workbox Meet our 2024 summer interns! Learn how they're bringing fresh perspectives and innovative ideas to our team during their time with Workbox.

Thank you to Avison Young for featuring Workbox in their latest article, which centers around the mutual benefits of flex office spaces for both landlords and companies navigating this new era of work.

This article explores how coworking spaces are addressing economic uncertainty and post-COVID-19 challenges by emphasizing flexible and hybrid work models, facilitating company expansions, and entering new markets. It also highlights asset-light strategies and innovative partnerships, such as Workbox's approach, as pivotal in the evolving coworking landscape. The importance of differentiated services and tailored programming for operator success is underscored, illustrating that flexibility, strategic partnerships, and deliberate targeting are pivotal drivers of coworking space growth in the current era.

Read the full article here: https://www.avisonyoung.us/viewpoints/spring-2024/coworkings-asset-light-resurgence

Coworking's asset-light resurgence The landscape of coworking has evolved significantly from its early “move fast and break things” days, when some operators overspent and overpromised, bolstered by a venture capital bubble that has since deflated. Instead of leases, today’s smart operators have learned from their peers’ past...

Workbox turns 5 today!

To our community members, partners, advisors, and Workbox team, we thank you for yet another incredible and exciting year.

Swipe through to see just a few notable moments from our most recent trip around the sun!

Looking forward to another great year!

Workbox is courtside in Dallas today for the NBA Finals!

Today, we're sure to work hard and cheer even harder, especially with that winning view right outside our door!

Workbox, the workspace of champions! 😉🏀

Hello, Summer Thursdays!

Take a break from working at your kitchen table and join us for Summer Thursdays at Workbox! Every Thursday from June 13th to August 29th, we're opening our doors to all Workbox locations across the country and offering FREE workspace passes for those looking to get some work done, collaborate, and maybe even meet some new friends! Join us in making Thursdays your new favorite day of the week! 🌞

To learn more and to register, click the link here: https://www.workboxcompany.com/upcoming-events/

Hey Chicago, make sure to look up this summer! Check out our newest billboard campaign, running across the city, to spread the word about TechChicago's campaign.

In partnership with P33, World Business Chicago, Choose Chicago,the City of Chicago, and Intersect Illinois, we're thrilled to take part in this three-month long initiative aimed at driving additional activity downtown.

And the best part? Every Thursday, all summer long, we're opening our doors across our 5 Chicago locations to offer FREE workspace passes. So come say hello, work from your favorite Workbox location, and see what we're all about!

To view tickets and register, click here: https://events.eventnoire.com/e/summer-thursdays-at-workbox-workspace-pass

Summer Thursdays at Workbox: Workspace Pass | Eventnoire In partnership with P33 Chicago, World Business Chicago, and Choose Chicago, Workbox is proud to serve as The Preferred Workspace Partner of the

It has been a busy few weeks of news at Workbox, and we have one more big announcement to make today. Workbox has secured $17.5M in committed capital through the completion of its Series A financing round.

Led by Chicago Atlantic, this round of funding will help Workbox accelerate its growth across the United States. CEO and Co-Founder, John Wallace, noted that “Workbox has more than doubled its revenue every year since inception, but it took a capital partner with the ability to look beyond office market headlines to see the true size of our opportunity in this trillion-dollar sector. The current environment has opened a path for reimagining the workplace and realigning owner and operator interests in a sustainable way,” said Wallace. “Chicago Atlantic brings over $2.1 billion in AUM, investment experience in both private equity and credit, public markets experience through a NASDAQ-listed REIT, and a nuanced understanding of how operating structure and design affect industry successes and failures.”

Of course, none of this would be possible without the employees, members, and partners that make up Workbox as a whole; we sincerely thank all of those who continue to believe in our mission and the work we do each and every day.

To read more about the details of this latest round of financing, click here: https://www.workboxcompany.com/news/workbox-secures-17-5-million-in-committed-capital-with-option-to-upsize-to-23-million/

Workbox Secures $17.5 Million in Committed Capital with Option to Upsize to $23 Million | Workbox Workbox completes their Series A financing, led by Chicago Atlantic, that will help accelerate expansion to new locations.

Howdy, Texas! 🤠

We are thrilled to officially announce our newest location, Workbox Dallas - Victory Park! Situated in the heart of Victory Plaza and directly next to American Airlines Center, this space offers purpose-built coworking and private office solutions for both growing and enterprise businesses

“We have been looking to grow into Dallas and the Texas market for a couple years now and jumped at the opportunity to start that journey in the bustling Uptown market. In addition to attracting some of the most exciting businesses in the city, the Uptown neighborhood was also a choice location for us because of its retail, amenities and entertainment draw for our member base,” said John Wallace, CEO and Co-Founder of Workbox.

To learn more about our latest expansion, click here: https://www.workboxcompany.com/news/workbox-expands-into-texas-bringing-innovative-workspace-solutions-to-downtown-dalla/

Workbox Expands Into Texas, Bringing Innovative Workspace Solutions to Downtown Dallas | Workbox Member-driven coworking company opens ninth U.S. location in the Uptown neighborhood of Dallas, TX on May 20. CHICAGO – May 29, 2024 – Workbox, a national workspace operator dedicated to providing solutions and resources to small, early, and growth stage companies, has opened its doors in Victor...

In this month's Member Spotlight, we caught up with Mike Schroder, the Co-Founder of Future Fans Sports and a member at our Columbus office, who has come up with innovative and fun ways for kids to learn about and become BIG sports fans.

Future Fans is a brand that helps kids, ages 4–10, unlock an understanding of sports in a unique way. For example, they teach, in kid-friendly ways, the concepts of downs in football through bean bag tossing games or through their embedded storybook-led experience!

On what he loves most about what he does, Mike said, “Creating a product and experience around facilitating connection between a grown-up and a child is a special thing to be able to get to work on each and every day. And, being able to then utilize these products to deepen the connection with my own kids is even better.”

And when asked about the company’s experience in our spaces, he said, “Workbox has been a great place to cultivate and share ideas with people from all different backgrounds and businesses. We also really appreciate the programming facilitated by Workbox and found the angel investment programs to be really helpful.”

Congratulations to the Future Fans team on all of their success-to-date! We can't wait to continue following along in your journey. Click on the following link to learn more about Future Fans and to read the full Q&A with Mike: https://www.workboxcompany.com/member-spotlight-future-fans/

Meet Tyann Avery, the Community Manager at our Workbox Columbus - Short North location!

Tyann says that, as a Community Manager, the most interesting thing about her job is the members she meets daily. Learning not only about their businesses but also their lives and passions makes the job incredibly fulfilling. Just recently, she even got to spend some time with a future business leader: "A member brought his 4-year-old daughter into the space while he finished up some last-minute work. Her and I sat together and drew donuts and cats together. We talked about everything under the sun!"

When asked about what excites her most about Workbox, she said, "Workbox is ever-growing, and seeing how we set ourselves apart from competitors and how well our structure works for member success, I get incredibly excited knowing how far we’ll go as a company!"

Outside of work, Tyann enjoys hosting parties and dinners for her friends and family with meals she's made from scratch, making floral arrangements, and of course traveling. We also can't leave out her serious dedication to and love for her favorite artist, Beyoncé!

Thank you, Tyann, for all the incredible work you do and for being such a positive presence on the team!

Yesterday, we hosted our first annual Workbox Ventures LP meeting at Workbox Chicago - The Loop! The afternoon was filled with great conversations about the Future of Work, and provided investors with insight into how Workbox Ventures' portfolio companies are on the leading edge of innovation in how work will be done in the decades ahead.

A special thank you to all of the Featured Founders in our Startup Alley during happy hour -- watch for big things ahead from each of these startups!

KindWorks.AI
Sangria Technologies
Lunum
symmetRE
GoDo
Impruve
InternConnect
AlumSum

Meet Ben Northrop, the Director of IT Operations here at Workbox!

As Director of IT, the most interesting aspect of his job is that no two days are the same: "Each day, you are presented with an opportunity to tackle a new challenge," says Ben. And, when asked what excites him most about the Workbox Community, he replied, "The community is full of true innovators. Everyone in the Workbox community has a unique idea and perspective on how to solve all different types of problems. It is never a dull conversation when chatting with a Workbox member."

Outside of work, Ben enjoys going to concerts and attending Cubs games with his wife, Devon. He also loves traveling all across the country with Devon and his daughter, Willow.

We are lucky to have Ben as our fearless leader, heading up all things IT, and we appreciate everything he has done to build out the department (as well as his patience when we can't get our computers to work 😂)

Last week, our COO, Caitlin McAllister, headed out West to speak at and attend the annual GCUC Global - Coworking/Flexible Workspace Community series in Salt Lake City. GCUC brings together decision-makers and game-changers in the coworking/flexible workspace industry. This unique conference experience is packed with expert insights and conversations, educational programming, and a showcase of industry-leading partners.

Caitlin had this to say about her experience: "It is always great to meet people in person after years of collaboration. Connection is the foundation for what we do, and these opportunities lead to new and even stronger connections in the industry."

Thank you, , for including Workbox in the conversation! Until next time!

Big things are happening in the The Loop!

At nearly 10 ft. in length and illuminating Clark street in the heart of Chicago, we just installed our largest signage in the city. Can you tell we're excited?

Come see it for yourself! Our newest space is located at 125 S. Clark Street in The National Building, just above Revival Food Hall

Member Spotlights are back! We caught up with the CEO and Co-Founder of Agile Rainmakers, a Workbox Chicago - Gold Coast Member, to learn more about their company’s mission, how they’re utilizing their private workspace at Workbox, and their plans for 2024.

Agile Rainmakers is a dynamic business development consulting firm specializing in advising high-growth companies on sustainable growth strategies. The team has vast expertise in strategy, management, finance, operations, marketing, and sales; they also leverage interns from top-tier universities for specific projects.

Fun Fact: Over the summer, they launched their “Intern vs. Manager” Instagram account, which grew to 70k followers in just one month!

Read more about Agile Rainmakers and what they're up to in our April Member Spotlight: https://www.workboxcompany.com/member-spotlight-agile-rainmakers/

Member Spotlight: Agile Rainmakers | Workbox We caught up with the CEO and Co-Founder of Agile Rainmakers, a Workbox Gold Coast Member, to learn more about their company’s mission, how they’re utilizing their private workspace at Workbox, and their plans for 2024.   Tell us a little about your company! Agile Rainmakers is a high-impact bu...

What an evening to remember!

We were honored to host the first stop on the Blackat road to Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity Road at our River North location in Chicago last week. In partnership with TechChicago, P33 and Eventnoire, the evening brought together 3 panels and a keynote address all centered around black creativity, bridging the gap in tech, and empowering black founders.

Thank you to all of the attendees, moderators and thought provoking speakers who helped make this sold out event a total hit!

Karriem Shakoor | UL Solutions
Nisaini Rexach | Microsoft
Teedra Bernard | TransUnion
Prof Jason Chambers | University of Illinois
Jason Mercer | Cleveland Avenue
Arielle Johnson, MPA | Business Leadership Council
Andrea L Zopp | Cleveland Avenue
Peter Ukhurebor | BlackAt
Christopher Crater | Obama Foundation
Elizabeth Campbell | McDonalds
Lewis Williams | Weber Shandwick
Jeff Osuji | Eventnoire
Tifair Hamad | P33

Scroll through these photos to see a recap of the night!

March Madness or Mixer Madness, at Workbox we prefer both!

Thank you to the 80+ workspace members, advisors, mentors, capital partners, and more, who joined us for our Chicago Workbox Spring Mixer at our newest location in The Loop. And of course we had all of the games on so attendees could keep up with their brackets in real time🏀.

A special thank you to our rockstar sponsors whose generous support made this event possible:

Zeni
JP Morgan
Bakertilly
Justworks
Newance
Clifton Larson Allen
Allrise

See you all at the next one!

Today, we are excited to roll out our refreshed Brand to the greater Workbox Community. This update includes new logos and marks, bolder brand colors, a manifesto, updated values, and more…all brought together via a connected line pattern that represents our core belief that greater connectivity leads to greater opportunity. At Workbox, we aim to level the playing field for growing companies, expand their networks, and ultimately provide the tools to drive their businesses forward.

The refreshed Workbox Brand will begin to roll out in both physical and digital spaces in the coming days, weeks, and months, so keep your eyes peeled!