Seats, Then Services

Like WeWork, its big Chinese rivals don’t make a profit from work-share space. Kr Space founder Liu Chengcheng says growth has to come first.

- Yue Wang

Myriad charts and figures of the latest real estate transactions in Chinese metropolises flash across the laptop of Liu Chengcheng as he talks, but one magazine article sits conspicuously on his immaculate desk, marked up with bold red lines. It tells the story of the co-working giant WeWork. “We pay a lot of attention to data,” Liu said in his high-rise office in central Beijing. “Especially the data of our competitors.”

Liu, 30, is the founder of Chinese co-working startup Kr Space. He’s going all out to defend his home market from WeWork, which is already in 26 countries and flush with cash, having just raised $1 billion more from investors. The New York company, valued last year at $20 billion, has built a global brand with its industrial-chic décor, large common areas, inspirational signs and perks like free beer and yoga sessions. But Liu is confident that Kr Space will come out on top in China because his team knows the local market better. “There are so many China-specific requirements,” Liu says. “I don’t think WeWork really understood all of these in its early days here, which was why they were expanding slowly.”