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Photo credit: Rework.

Indonesian co-working space operator Rework has announced over US$3 million in pre-series A funding to expand across Jakarta, Surabaya, and Bali. The round was co-led by China’s ATM Capital and Indonesia-based Convergence Ventures, with participation from China’s co-working unicorn UrWork.

UrWork is China’s largest co-working space provider and has been valued at US$1.5 billion since receiving pre-series C funding last month. The company made its first foray outside of China in July when it opened a workspace in Singapore’s One North science and tech district.

UrWork now operates in 100 locations across China, Singapore, the US, and the UK. More overseas growth is said to be in the pipeline. The company’s partnership with Rework will allow it to expand to 35 locations in Indonesia during 2018.

Indonesian startups have recently experienced a wave of funding from Chinese companies. UrWork’s investment in Rework can be seen in the context of a wider rivalry with US shared workspace unicorn WeWork, which entered the Chinese market in July after securing US$500 million in funding from SoftBank and Hony Capital.

Not long afterwards, WeWork acquired Singapore-based competitor Spacemob and announced that it has committed US$500 million to carrying out its Southeast Asia and Korea expansion plans.

While shared workspaces are typically associated with early-stage startups, research from real estate services firm Colliers International indicates that larger corporates are also increasingly making use of such venues – signifying the opportunity that exists for operators like UrWork and WeWork.

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