Coworking firm Utopicus to triple its size with 30M euro investment

This article was written and published in Spanish and has been translated into English via Google Translate. Click here to read the original article.

Utopicus, a flexible spaces and coworking company in the Colonial neighborhood of Madrid, will invest over 30 million euros to triple its size and close 2020 with at least 13 centers that will add about 36,000 square meters.

The latest addition to the company's portfolio will take place next week, when it will open its flagship store, at number 4 on Gran Vía de Madrid. This will be the flagship of Utopicus in the Spanish capital and before opening it is already rented at 50%.

The entire space is 5,000 square meter building that can accommodate around 500 flexible jobs and "we hope it is in full performance in two months," says Rafa de Ramon, CEO of Utopicus.

The four-storey property, owned by the family office of Jon Riberas, owner of Gestamp, will be the first coworking space open to the city and will have an auditorium for 200 people, a Club, offices with capacity for 100 people and innovation rooms. It will also feature the first Vinitus restaurant in Madrid, "one of the most successful restaurants in Barcelona," they point from the firm.

"This new center encourages collaboration and the exchange of knowledge among entrepreneurs, but also promotes the digital transformation of more consolidated companies, since it is focused on both profiles," explains Ramon.

"We are not a coworking company, but coworkers, we know that the value of our work goes beyond renting tables and we focus on giving companies access to a flexible space that facilitates the digital transformation of businesses, generation of networking and the formation and development of people," adds Ramon.

The manager points out that he has been in the coworking business since 2010, when he founded the company, but his great growth came in 2017, when he sold a majority stake to Colonial. Since then the firm has multiplied by four its size and now aims to become the largest Spanish flexible spaces company.

Rhythm of openings

In addition to the next opening of Gran Vía, Utopicus inaugurated at the end of 2018 two other centers in Madrid. One on Orense Street and another in Príncipe de Vergara, in The Window of Colonial. The latter, according to Ramón, is the first in Madrid that combines the use of coworking with a traditional office.

In this case the building is owned by Colonial, which on the upper floors rents the property for the traditional office format, while the first three are Utopicus. The difference compared to other office buildings where there are also coworking companies is that this is the first that allows the companies present to benefit from the added value services of the coworking spaces. Thus, they can join the continuous programming of workshops, bicycle parking or yoga sessions, among other innovative services that are available to all users of the property.

The property, which has 4,000 square meters of flexible spaces, has a cocktail room, as well as a bar space with stage and instruments and a dj bar, open to any user.

Cultural and musical meetings will be held in its meeting and event rooms and the users of the building will also have a modern office, as well as work spaces with a modern design and careful attention to detail.

On the other hand, in Barcelona, ​​Utopicus has recently opened the Clementina space, which together with the openings in Madrid, joins the centers that the company had previously opened (Plaza Catalunya in Barcelona and those of Conde de Casal, Duque de Rivas and Colegiata in Madrid).

Between 2019 and the beginning of 2020, Utopicus will open another three spaces in Madrid, in José Abascal, Paseo de la Castellana and Paseo de la Habana, and two in Barcelona, ​​the spaces of Ciutat de Granada (ParcGlòries) and Gala Placidia.

After these inaugurations, Utopicus will put on the Spanish market a total of 36,000 square meters of flexible space divided into 13 centers - 4 in Barcelona for a total of 9,000 square meters, and 9 in Madrid for some 27,000 square meters - which will make it the main company in the segment.

The escalation of the company since Colonial became the main shareholder has been accelerated. Thus, until 2017 Utopicus had three centers in Madrid of 1,000 square meters each. From 2017 to today, it has multiplied its size by four, to 11,500 square meters and adding spaces also in Barcelona. The forecast is to multiply this figure by three, up to 36,000 m2, in less than a year.

The company also expects to reach 6,000 coworkers during this period, including tenants of its buildings, an entrepreneurial community linked to the brand and large companies that rely on Utopicus + services.

This article was written and published in Spanish and has been translated into English via Google Translate. Click here to read the original article.

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