Singapore based co-living company, Hmlet today announced it signed an agreement to acquire Hong Kong co-living startup, we r urban. The deal marks Hmlet’s expansion into the Hong Kong market and is their first acquisition of a direct competitor.
Hmlet@Sarkies. Picture: Hmlet
we r urban currently manages a portfolio of 30 co-living spaces, housing 70 members across 15,000 square feet in Hong Kong Island. Following the acquisition, Hmlet plans to more than double the number of members in the city by the end of 2018.
“Hong Kong is a natural next move for Hmlet, and this investment allows us to impact millennials across Hong Kong, allowing them to grow, scale and succeed,” said Yoan Kamalski, CEO, and Co-Founder at Hmlet. “We are excited to have found an equal who shares our thinking on the importance of space, community, culture, and technology,”
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“We’re thrilled to be working with Hmlet and look forward to growing the business in Hong Kong. We could not imagine a better company to partner with to further the success of coliving in the market.” said Pauline Wetzer, Managing Director of we r urban.”
we r urban was founded by Raphaela Oliver-Köfeler and Cornelius Kistler to meet the growing demand for affordable, stylish housing as the first co-living concept in Hong Kong. Oliver-Köfeler was the source of the initial idea as she sensed the opportunities in the shared economy and managed the first pilot co-living space. Kistler supported in the early stage investment and used his experience as an entrepreneur to mentor the team.
In 2016, Dominik Wiesent joined the company as Director of Real Estate and Renovation bringing expertise in design, construction and engineering, which enabled we r urban to add value to rundown walk-ups in the city. Pauline Wetzer joined the business in early 2017 as Managing Director to further scale the business. Both Dominik and Pauline will remain in their current positions.
Yoan Kamalski and Zenos Schmickrath co-founded Hmlet in 2016 with the vision of reinventing the way people live by responding to the needs of today’s mobile millennial workforce.
Article contributed by hmlet.
