According to research from Emergent, the world’s co-working memberships are expected to more than double from 1.6 million in 2017 to 3.8 million by 2020. However, the demographics of co-working have changed with freelancers making up just 39% of co-workers in 2017, compared to 80% in 2010. Co-working market leader WeWork is a favorite to go public this year.

WeWork’s Offerings

Founded in 2010 by Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey in New York, WeWork provides its online network of members with a shared office space, a sense of a community, and services. It generally rents space from landlords, transforms it into a sleek, well-designed workspace with a communal atmosphere, and sublets the workstations and offices at a higher price to customers. It targets small businesses, startups, entrepreneurs, and freelancers who are too small to invest into the lease of a full-fledged office.

For a basic We membership fee of $45 per month, it offers access to events, benefits, and its digital app that allows access to its member network. It also offers Hot Desks, Dedicated desks, and Private offices, the pricing of which depends on the location. It also offers customized build outs of office spaces.

Services offered by WeWork include super-fast Internet, business class printers, private booths for phone calls, conference rooms, mail and package handling, online community managers, cleaning service, spacious and unique common areas, and other freebies like free beer, coffee, tea, and fruit water.

WeWork also offers WeWork Labs that targets early-stage startups. For the cost of a dedicated desk, it offers them mentorship, investor introductions, workshops, and Pitch Nights to guide them towards becoming a functional business.

It has also experimented with shared living spaces through WeLive where tenants are connected to living areas with shared kitchens and bathrooms.

In 2017, the company opened 90 new locations, doubled its global membership, and expanded into new cities in Latin America, Asia and Australia, and Europe and Israel. Today the company has grown to 282 rent-your-office locations in 59 cities and over 100,000 members.