Knotel Plans To Be Bigger Than WeWork In 15 Months, Readies Blockchain-Based Property Database

Knotel co-founder Amol Sarva is no stranger to bold statements, nor is he shy about his competition with WeWork.

In an interview with Commercial Observer, Sarva said flexible workspace provider Knotel "will be bigger than [WeWork] in the next 15 months," citing his company's rapid growth, and the fact that Knotel already has a third of WeWork's footprint in New York, spread among more properties.

At 5.3M SF, WeWork is currently the largest private office tenant in the city, and shows no signs of slowing its aggressive expansion. A new $3B investment from SoftBank on Tuesday brought the industry leader's valuation up to $42B.

Knotel has been far from idle. Beyond its physical expansion past 1M SF and into Europe this year, the company has acquired PropTech startup 42Floors with the intention of transforming the way office properties are listed and entered into a collaboration with CompStak for a proof-of-concept project to similar effect.

Sarva said the company is close to debuting Knotel's blockchain-based listing service, which will be called Baya. With blockchain, Baya promises to increase transparency in the office leasing business, rather than the current system that Sarva argues relies too much on the word of landlords who may not be forthcoming.

The blockchain service will be announcing partnerships with major real estate companies in the coming weeks, Sarva told CO. His ultimate goal is to have every office property in every major market globally indexed and searchable on Baya, available to lease with one click.

Until Baya is online, Knotel is still a flexible office space provider in a field that has become increasingly cutthroat. Regus has joined Knotel in accusing WeWork of foul play, and traditional players like CBRE have launched their own coworking arms. Sarva responded to CBRE's announcement by severing ties with the company.

CORRECTION, NOV. 15, 4:45 P.M. ET: A previous version of this article misstated Knotel's relationship with CompStak. This article has been updated.

Continue reading this story with a free account

Log in or register
Sign up for more articles like this
Subscribe to Bisnow's National Newsletters
Related Stories

Life Insurers Writing Riskier Loans To CRE, Setting Off Alarm Bells

Lawmakers Are Canceling Data Center Tax Breaks. Developers Are Learning To Adapt

Stockdale Found A Gap In The Debt Market. Then It Seized An Opportunity

University City Office Market Improves Despite Slow Quarter In Philly

Federal Realty Spends $508M On Alabama Power Center

Hines Names New Co-CEO As Part Of Generational Leadership Shift

Investors Flee Mortgage-Backed Securities As Interest Rates Eat At Returns

High-Flying Midtown Office Market Back To Pre-Pandemic Health

Gas Prices Are Soaring, But Gas Station Investors Aren’t Flinching

Lenders Warn Commercial Real Estate's 'Day Of Reckoning' Is Close At Hand

KKR's Chris Lee On Finding Opportunities As CRE Begins A 'Regime Change'

'Think Brookfield, Think Blackstone': Ackman's Vision For Howard Hughes