Quickly growing startups – commonly known as scaleups – face particular challenges finding suitable working space. The private-sector commercial property market offers almost no affordable spaces that are larger than 100 m2, divided into smaller units, expandable, and also available for short-term rent.
munich business launched a curated network of private suppliers, “Spaces for Scaleups”, in 2021 with the aim of increasing the supply of premises of at least 100 m2 for scaleups. The goal is to facilitate the smoothest possible transition from “Phase 2” to “Phase 3” of the startup life cycle. Reducing the time needed to look for premises and directly providing such premises allows startup to save valuable time and money, and the often-necessary move to a larger location is made simpler.
This initiative by the Economic Development Department has attracted the interest of the property sector and raised awareness of scaleups as a target group. To date, dialog with portfolio holders, developers, investors, suppliers of coworking spaces, and other service providers have allowed some 15 commercial locations from the “Spaces for Scaleups” portfolio to be taken up.
The initiative is being further developed via an online portal that will present the network partners and curated available space in an appealing manner, and that also aims to acquire additional suppliers of commercial space. Spaces for Scaleups also seeks to foster the provision of further suitable spaces which, for example, offer more affordable rents (such as coworking spaces), and to make spaces in decentralized locations more appealing by creating the appropriate infrastructure and services.
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