Years before the prolific coworking brand WeWork arrived in Singapore, we already had some small local startups kickstarting the scene here with trendy shared office solutions.
Among them, JustCo is one that has managed to scale up significantly, making a name for itself as a leading coworking firm in Asia.
Founded by Kong Wan Sing as JustOffice in 2011, and rebranded into JustCo in 2015, the company now has 15 centres in Singapore, as well as locations in Jakarta, Bangkok, Shanghai, Seoul and Sydney so far.
They just announced on 13 May 2019 that they’ve entered their latest market, Taiwan.
Opening three new coworking centres in major Taiwanese districts Xinyi, Songshan and Zhongshan, this expansion now sets JustCo at 32 outlets globally.
Its flagship centre in Taiwan will occupy the entire office tower of Dian Shih building, a new mixed development building that comprises office levels and a connected hotel.
The location gives JustCo 65,000 sq ft of coworking spaces across seven floors at Dian Shih, from where members can enjoy the views of Taipei 101 and Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall.
JustCo’s second and third centres in Taiwan are set to be located in Minsheng Jianguo and Hung Tai Financial Plaza, standing at 70,000 sq ft and 60,000 sq ft respectively.
JustCo members in Taiwan can soon start coworking at these spaces when they open in the second half of 2019.
Along with this expansion, JustCo also gains their first enterprise client, a pharmaceutical MNC that will move its entire employee base of over 400 staff into the Minsheng Jianguo office.
Growth In Recent Years
“Our expansion in the last 12 months has been the strongest for us, with 22 locations secured or opened,” said Kong.
He added that their latest expansions will give JustCo’s members “greater regional access” and let them tap into a “larger network for more collaboration and networking opportunities”.
Before taking on Taiwan, JustCo previously announced in January that it was planning to enter the South Korean and Australian markets.
Since then, the firm opened one centre each in Seoul and Sydney.
They also have plans in motion to open two new centres in Melbourne for the first time, as well as to bolster its presence in existing cities with additional locations in Singapore, Bangkok, Seoul and Sydney, all to open within 2019.
The past few years has seen rapid growth for JustCo, particularly with support from investors and partnerships.
In 2017, JustCo raised US$12 million from Thai developer Sansiri in their Series B round, in exchange for a 6.09% stake.
This brought JustCo’s valuation to US$200 million, a figure which has since increased, according to Business Insider.
Following this, the firm then began expanding from Singapore, with its first overseas coworking centre opening in Thailand in 2018.
Last year was also when JustCo entered a joint investment of US$177 million with Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC and Frasers Property to develop its coworking platform across Asia.
Through these partnerships, JustCo has gained opportunities to lease buildings in key locations for its coworking centres, such as Seoul Finance Centre which is owned by GIC.
Kong aims to open 100 JustCo centres by 2020, and while it seems ambitious, he may have a chance of achieving this, only if growth continues to speed up.
Featured Image Credit: JustCo
