Tel Aviv entrepreneurs to get 3 WeWork office sites

In Tel Aviv, rent for a small apartments runs into thousands of shekels – much more than a brand new cash-starved start-up can afford. But entrepreneurs need a place to work and to meet with clients and investors – and sometimes a coffee shop just won’t do.

To the rescue comes WeWork, the highly successful American tech workspace network that provides a desk, meeting rooms, event spaces, and lounges, along with secretarial services, printing, high speed internet connections, and “all the coffee entrepreneurs and their staff can drink,” according to the WeWork people.

Although there are such workspaces in Israel, they aren’t WeWork workspaces. The company is banking on its reputation and services to tempt local entrepreneurs to switch to one of its three newly opened Tel Aviv and nearby Herzliya locations.

The workspaces offer the usual amenities entrepreneurs would expect in such facilities, including private meeting areas, classy-looking comfortable sofas, desk space for up to 12 employees, and more. Most of the additional amenities, however – like a screening room and recording studio, bike storage, a game arcade room, and even a bocce court – are unique to WeWork’s brand of workspace.

Tel Aviv is the 12th city to host WeWork spaces. The real selling point for most WeWork customers in the US and Europe is the company’s pay-by-the-month lease arrangement. For many entrepreneurs, that more than anything has been a deal-closer in the other markets the company operates in. In affordable space-challenged Tel Aviv, that is likely to be a very popular feature of the WeWork deal, allowing entrepreneurs to avoid committing to the six month or year term workspace hosting locations generally require.

WeWork customers can also use any of the company’s 30 workspaces anywhere in the world, perfect for the entrepreneur who wants to meet investors in New York, San Francisco, or London, for example. In addition, the company has member plans providing discounted health insurance (not so relevant for Israeli entrepreneurs) as well as discounts on Amazon Web Hosting fees (very relevant for Israeli entrepreneurs). The company does not give out information about how many companies or entrepreneurs use its spaces, but industry experts estimate that many thousands have gone through WeWork spaces since the company was formed in 2010.

For WeWork, said Benji Singer of the Israel operation, a move to Israel is long overdue. “Israel is one of the world leaders in the high tech industry, and we are excited to be here and offer the entrepreneurs, start-ups and small business our designed workspaces,” he said. “Our uniqueness stems from the creation of a community as well as the support and collaboration generated from it.”