The French startup Fiveoffices, the marketplace that connects entrepreneurs wishing to monetize their empty offices with entrepreneurs looking for offices to rent, has just completed a fundraising of 3.2 million euros. Business Cool spoke with Carolyn Prestat, CEO of this startup, to learn more about its future goals.
Everything you need to know about Fiveoffices
Who are you ?
My name is Carolyn Prestat and I am CEO at Fiveoffices. After emlyon and a parallel business law course, I began my career as a lawyer, then a consultant in mergers and acquisitions, and I was quickly attracted by the world of entrepreneurship and startups, becoming COO of Kliber and today CEO of Fiveoffices.
What does Fiveoffices do?
The traditional office real estate market is no longer suitable for entrepreneurs facing today’s problems and challenges, accentuated by the COVID crisis. New work models, the upheavals in the relationships between employees and their workplace, and the new aspirations of the working population have emptied millions of m² of offices. However, office rental often remains an expensive headache and a source of stress for entrepreneurs.
Fiveoffices easily connects entrepreneurs with unoccupied offices with entrepreneurs looking for full or part-time offices, so that they can effectively share their spaces. From research to connection, everything is done very simply and quickly, via our platform.
Launched in Paris last October, Fiveoffices already has more than 500 online advertisements on the platform, for 45,000 m² of offices available for rent, or 6,000 workstations. The average surface areas currently offered for rental are 90 m².
Fiveoffices fundraising
Why did you raise 3.2 million euros?
Our ambition is to become a reflex for entrepreneurs with available office space or looking for an office under flexible conditions. This fundraising will allow us to intensify our development in Paris and begin our international deployment, with new launches from the second half of 2023.
Why did you choose to bring these investors into your capital?
We wanted to surround ourselves with business angels for this first fundraising in order to benefit not only from financial support, but also from intellectual and commercial support. Our investors are experienced entrepreneurs themselves and provide us with the benefit of their expertise and networks.
What will Fiveoffices look like in 5 years?
We are convinced that the sharing economy is one of the key solutions for the success of businesses today and tomorrow, but also one of the solutions to respond to the ecological challenges that we must and will face.
Our goal within 5 years is to extend Fiveoffices to the main European capitals and large cities, then North America. Our ambition is to democratize office sharing and become obvious to all entrepreneurs.
