WeWork acquires its first company

Building consultancy Case to bring technology to shared offices

From left: David Fano, Frederico Negro and Adam Neumann
From left: David Fano, Frederico Negro and Adam Neumann

Just months after raising a fresh round of cash from investors, WeWork acquired its first company. The shared-office provider announced Wednesday that it took over Case, a building information consultancy.

Case, which advises landlords, architects, contractors and engineers on how to efficiently design and manage buildings and produces software to that end, had been advising WeWork for three years.

Case will become a part of WeWork, the firm’s co-founder and now WeWork’s Chief Technology Officer David Fano told The Real Deal. He added that the firm will complete its existing contracts with other clients before exclusively focusing on WeWork’s portfolio. Case’s 60-odd employees are all offered positions at WeWork.

“We really just wanted to do this 100 percent,” Fano said. “We are super invested in what WeWork is doing and see it a s a way to further our mission.”

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Founded by trained architects Fano, Federico Negro and Steve Sanderson in 2008, Case focuses in part on Building Information Modeling, or the digital mapping of buildings. As consultants to WeWork, Fano said, Case helped 3D-model several WeWork spaces, trained its staff and developed software for its departments.

Fano didn’t specify what projects he will be working on within WeWork, but said it would be tech-focused.

“I envision a world one day (WeWork) where members can change their air conditioning from their phone,” he said.

WeWork announced in June that it had raised another $400 million from investors at a valuation of $10 billion, bringing its total funding to around $1 billion. The firm was Manhattan’s most active tenant in the first half of 2015.