Knotel has acquired the largest co-working firm in Paris, giving the company a dominant market share position in the French capital.
The company, Deskeo, will rebrand under Knotel, CEO Amol Sarva told TechCrunch. The acquisition now gives Knotel a presence 10 times the size of WeWork in Paris, Sarva said.
Knotel has looked to Europe for making headway on its global expansion, and last year acquired Ahoy!Berlin, a co-working firm in the German capital.
The company was founded in 2016 by Amol Sarva and Edward Shenderovich, Knotel has pitted itself as a viable alternative to WeWork. But the firm, with a portfolio of 2 million square feet across 100 spaces and $160 million in funding, still has a distance to cover. By comparison, WeWork has raised over $10 billion and leases more than 5 million square feet in New York City — making it the largest office tenant in New York.
Knotel’s announcement follows an expansion by the firm in New York City, after it signed 160,000 square feet over the past month. The office space provider has locations in Los Angeles and San Francisco and London, and has plans to open in Brazil. [TechCrunch] — David Jeans