Boosting future of flexible workspaces, London’s Valve houses in $4.5 million

The flexible workspace rental market is the fastest growing segment of commercial real estate, valued at $30 billion and expected to hit $300 billion by 2030. While the number of players in the flexible workspace sector is on the rise, both sides face challenges. Operators struggle to lease space efficiently, and brokerages lack streamlined digital access to inventory, data and content.

Aiming to fill the gap in this highly fragmented market to enable both parties to transact more efficiently, London-based flexible workspace rental market platform Valve has raised $4.5 million in seed funding. The new cash will increase the platform’s reach in North America and EMEA, accelerating the $4.2 billion of flexible workspace contract value processed by Valve’s interconnected partners. The round was led by Project A with participation from Discovery Ventures.

The UK-based startup offers turnkey sales, marketing and distribution solutions for commercial real estate professionals, online booking platforms and flexible workspace operators to transact across a global network of workspaces seamlessly.

Through Valve’s technology, landlords and operators on the supply side can power up their sales teams with sales tooling, distribute content, and receive bookings from traditional brokerages, listing sites, and on-demand apps via a centralised inventory and distribution management platform. On the demand side, brokers, booking platforms and portals gain access to market intelligence, real-time flexible workspace inventory, and an end-to-end booking API to integrate with their proprietary products and solutions.

Nick Roveta, CEO at Valve said: “Valve makes it easy for companies building flexible workspace businesses - whether you are a landlord, operator, brokerage, application or tech entrepreneur. Its unified system meets a logical need for all industry players in the flexible workspace ecosystem to have one place to streamline how they partner and grow revenues together.”

Valve already operates over 10,000 buildings in over 250 cities for 170 customers.

Anton Waitz, general partner at Project A added: “Valve is building the infrastructure layer of the fast-growing flex workspace market, and it’s a perfect time to capitalize. The team combines the right mindset, speed and passion for executing Valve’s mission and building a company that will help the entire industry thrive.”