‘WeWork for events’ start-up eyes expansion from Shanghai to Beijing despite economic headwinds in China

A meeting-space start-up in China, co-founded by an American entrepreneur in 2018 and which tripled in scale during the Covid-19 pandemic, is looking to expand across major Chinese cities despite the country’s growing economic woes and worsening relations with the US.

Shanghai-based White Space, which offers venues for events and meetings on demand, has grown from four locations in 2019 to 12 since the beginning of this year. It is now looking to add at least one location each quarter in tier-one cities including Beijing, Shenzhen and Hangzhou, co-founder and CEO Barbara Ex told the Post in a recent interview.

While co-working space providers such as WeWork give users flexible access to work desks and private offices, White Space focuses on larger rooms that can host between 10 and 150 people for training, sales meetings and team building activities.

The firm is hoping to attract businesses planning to reduce their real estate footprint and therefore need budget-friendly external space for collaborative events, said Ex, a consulting veteran who has been working in China since 2005, including a one-year stint as an executive at computer giant Lenovo in Beijing.

“The economic slowdown actually supports our model because people are looking for ways to economise where they can,” Ex said. “They still want to meet, but maybe they don’t want to pay for a five-star hotel.”