The future of work is happening now for hundreds of early subscribers at Daybase’s inaugural Hoboken, NJ location
Daybase, the hybrid work company, announced today it has closed on a $9.6 million seed funding round from Silicon Valley venture capital investors, founders of widely acclaimed consumer brands and prominent families synonymous with New York City real estate. This round of financing will enable further development of the company’s growing network of on-demand, professional-grade coworking locations in residential areas, along with new tools to support hybrid workers and companies.
The funding round was led by True Ventures (Peloton, Sweetgreen, Blue Bottle Coffee, Ring), and included participation from Company Ventures (Carta, RobinHood); Good Friends (from the founders of Allbirds, Harry’s and Warby Parker); and New York City real estate owners including the Milsteins, Lefraks and Rudin Ventures, among others.
“One differentiator between a good and great opportunity, in our experience, is when a founding team has worked together and engaged with a problem before, and Daybase’s has,” said Ariel Winton-Jones, Principal at True Ventures. “Hybrid work is an enormous new frontier forcing sudden changes for nearly every company and millions of workers – and their families – worldwide. As investors in both consumer brands and a number of tools for remote work, we’re excited to back more founders defining the hybrid future. Daybase’s founding team brings tons of relevant insights and experience in execution, along with constructive curiosity, to this massive market.”
The investment marks the company’s second significant milestone in recent weeks, after the successful opening of the first Daybase location in Hoboken, New Jersey. Conveniently located in a modern, ground-level space on the Washington Street retail and residential corridor, the inaugural Daybase workspot already has welcomed more than 300 members seeking a better workday near home, but not at home. The company has a waiting list of 5,000 members across the country, demonstrating the widespread desire for a better alternative to putting up with the pain points of either working from home or commuting to an office building located far from the rest of their lives.
“The future of work is here,” said Daybase CEO Joel Steinhaus. “This investment in Daybase is a strong show of confidence in our vision to offer workers everywhere the flexibility and convenience of on-demand workspots close to home. We are thrilled to welcome this strategic group of partners joining our mission to make Daybase the space for you to seize your workday wherever you are.”
A recent survey conducted by consultancy Advanced Workplace Associates revealed that only three percent of workers want to return to the office full time. Daybase’s three-part strategy to deliver solutions for this new paradigm confronting companies and workers consists of developing a national network of local workspots, offering knowledge and resources for navigating hybrid work, and curating team-based experiences for hybrid companies.
“Daybase is pioneering a new hub and spoke model of work that meets people where they are instead of demanding they commute hours each and every day. In a post-pandemic world, all businesses need to react to our new shared reality, and Daybase gives enterprises large and small a key piece of the toolkit to do so,” said Michael Milstein of Company Ventures and Milstein Properties. “For nearly a decade we have anticipated and supported the physical office, ecosystem and financial needs of entrepreneurs through a host of initiatives, including Grand Central Tech and Company. Today, we are very proud to support Daybase in developing the next logical step in the evolution of work.”
“There is a huge opportunity to define the future of the workplace and the team at Daybase is building an amazing brand and business around uniquely meeting the rapidly evolving needs for dynamic, flexible and connected workspace,” said Jeff Raider, co-founder of Harry’s, and partner at Good Friends.
“Daybase is the premier innovator of the Third Workplace, which more and more is becoming an essential part of companies’ real estate, data integrity and talent retention strategies,” said Harrison LeFrak, Vice Chairman of LeFrak. “Our family’s firm is pleased to be seed investors as this exciting concept becomes an undeniable reality.”
“People have re-oriented their days, routines and relationships to be close to home, school and after-school activities, and Daybase represents an opportunity for multi-family and mixed-use real estate developers to capitalize on that enduring trend at scale,” said Daybase COO Doug Chambers. “Partnering with Daybase not only provides developers an opportunity to stand out by offering residents a valuable and convenient amenity, but also will attract additional value-enhancing foot traffic for their other nearby street-level retail spaces.”
Daybase’s second and third locations, in Harrison, New York, and Westfield, New Jersey, respectively, are under development and set to open later this year, with nationwide expansion to follow. As part of its strategy to achieve scale through local partnerships, Daybase has developed its early locations in close collaboration with building owners so they can offer Daybase membership as a valuable amenity for residents of multi-family and mixed-use developments, as in Hoboken and Harrison. Daybase also is a federally registered and approved franchisor, providing the opportunity for local entrepreneurs to own their own hybrid work location through the Daybase platform.
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