Second Home 的设计主导型共享办公豪赌：融资超 6000 万英镑，2024 年进入破产管理，管理层收购

做的是什么生意

London-founded, design-led coworking operator that rented architect-designed spaces — SelgasCano interiors, plants and colourful pods — to startups and creative businesses in London, Lisbon and Los Angeles.

启动资金：Over £60M raised from Index Ventures, Atomico, Yuri Milner, Tencent president Martin Lau and former Goldman Sachs chief economist Jim O'Neill by 2019 (Financial Times via BusinessDay), including a £20M round about a year before Oct 2019; Riaz Valani put £7.8M into a majority stake in October 2022.

起因

Rohan Silva, a former adviser to UK prime minister David Cameron who helped build London's Tech City initiative, and entrepreneur Sam Aldenton founded Second Home in 2014. The pair leaned heavily on design — architect SelgasCano's plant-filled, light-filled rooms won press plaudits and, they hoped, members willing to pay a premium over WeWork-style offices.

经过

Second Home ran further locations in London and Lisbon and raised more than £60M from Index Ventures, Atomico, Yuri Milner, Tencent president Martin Lau and former Goldman Sachs chief economist Jim O'Neill. Expansion ran ahead of revenue: accounts showed a £5.2M loss on £5.4M of revenue in 2017, and the 90,000 sq ft Hollywood campus opened in September 2019 after years of delay, costing tens of millions and exceeding budget by millions. By October 2019, a year after a £20M raise, Second Home was asking existing investors for a fresh injection, and its CFO had resigned; the campus had attracted tenants including Monzo and Snap's charitable arm, and investor Pembroke VCT still valued the company at a little over £130M. Losses were £16M in 2019, about £23M in 2020 and £13M in 2021, while revenue fell from a high of £9.8M in 2019 to £6.6M in 2021 as the pandemic shut its rooms. In October 2022 Silicon Valley investor Riaz Valani put £7.8M into the company for a majority stake — a huge markdown from the 2019 valuation. A UK Insolvency Service winding-up petition in August 2024 was withdrawn, Los Angeles, Clerkenwell and London Fields were removed from its website in the first half of 2024, and founder Silva stepped down in 2024 as Jamie Apostolou became CEO.

结果

After difficult financial years and historical debt, Second Home applied to appoint administrators in December 2024. Partners from FRP Advisory were appointed on Christmas Eve and the company was bought out immediately in a prepackaged deal led by management; CEO Jamie Apostolou said it was 'our only option to keep the company alive'. Holland Park, Spitalfields and Lisbon kept trading, while Los Angeles, London Fields and Clerkenwell Green closed.

可借鉴之处

美丽的房间建立了受人喜爱的品牌，却未能建立持久的企业：扩张成本、疫情关闭和物业债务压垮了高端共享办公模式，直到 2024 年的预包装交易保住了品牌。