SquareFoot

What SquareFoot does

SquareFoot is a venture-backed commercial real estate technology company founded in 2011 and headquartered in New York City. The company operates a tech-enabled tenant-representation brokerage that helps businesses find, compare, and lease office space across 20+ U.S. markets. SquareFoot combines a proprietary online listings platform with a network of commercial real estate brokers who represent tenants (rather than landlords), addressing the structural conflict of interest in traditional landlord-side brokerage. The company has served more than 500 companies, including notable clients such as Venmo, Instacart, Casper, Ollie, Breather, Greatist, and Materialize.

The company's core product is an online listings marketplace supplemented by smart planning tools, including a Space Calculator (estimating required square footage based on headcount), a Commute Calculator (mapping employee commute times), and TourBook (collaborative tour notes for stakeholders). The technology stack is described as a listing platform with a proprietary recommendation engine. SquareFoot has expanded its product surface through acquisitions: PivotDesk (acquired February 2019) operates a sublease marketplace connecting businesses with excess space to those needing flexible options; Upsuite (acquired June 2021) added flexible workspace capabilities; and Transcend (acquired July 2021) brought Atlanta and southern market presence. SquareFoot also offers FLEX, a flexible-lease product offering 2-3 year terms with turnkey services (furniture, IT, cleaning) as an alternative to traditional 5-10 year leases.

Revenue is generated primarily through tenant-representation broker commissions paid by landlords, typically a percentage of total lease value, with the service offered at no out-of-pocket cost to tenants. The PivotDesk marketplace generates additional marketplace commission revenue. Geographic expansion has been pursued through a combination of organic market launches (Houston, Los Angeles) and acquisitions, with the company now serving markets including Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Miami, San Francisco, and Washington D.C. The company has raised approximately $31.4M in venture funding across seven rounds from 2013 to 2019, with a $16M Series B led by DRW Venture Capital in November 2019. The company is led by CEO and co-founder Jonathan Wasserstrum and VP of Growth Nell Lanman.

Name

SquareFoot

Legal name

SquareFoot

Website

https://squarefoot.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

SquareFoot is a tech-enabled commercial real estate brokerage that helps businesses find, compare, and lease office space across 20+ US markets. Founded in 2011, it serves 500+ companies with proprietary listing tools, tenant-side broker representation, and flexible lease products.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Commercial Real Estate Technology

NAICS

Offices of Real Estate Agents and Brokers (5312), Offices of Real Estate Agents and Brokers (53121)

SIC

Real Estate Agents & Managers (For Others) (6531)

akta.pro primary industry

Land & Development Site Brokerage (BPAJABAG)

Keywords

• Commercial real estate brokerage
• Office space marketplace
• Tenant representation services
• Flexible office leasing
• Commercial property listings

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Broker Commission (Tenant Representation): SquareFoot operates as a tenant broker, representing businesses looking for office space. Their brokers spend 100% of their time doing deals and are compensated through commissions paid by landlords (typically a percentage of the lease value). The service is described as at no cost to tenants.
2. PivotDesk Marketplace Fees: Revenue from the PivotDesk marketplace platform which connects people needing office space with those having extra space. Hosts can list their available desks and offset costs of unused space.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

SquareFoot is a technology-enabled commercial real estate brokerage that helps businesses search, tour, and lease office space through an online listings platform supported by a team of tenant-representative brokers. Its core platform combines a proprietary listing database and recommendation engine with broker guidance, flexible lease products (FLEX), and a subleasing marketplace (PivotDesk) acquired in 2019. The service is offered at no out-of-pocket cost to tenants, with revenue generated through landlord-paid broker commissions.

Product overview

SquareFoot operates as a unified commercial real estate technology platform combining an online listings marketplace with broker services and smart planning tools. The core platform (SquareFoot) provides access to commercial office space listings with broker support throughout the leasing process. This is supplemented by FLEX by SquareFoot, a flexible office solution offering shorter lease terms and turnkey spaces, and PivotDesk, an acquired subleasing marketplace. Supporting tools include the Space Calculator for space requirement planning, the Commute Calculator for location analysis, TourBook for collaborative tour management, and Leasopedia as an educational resource hub. A mobile app extends access to the platform on iOS devices.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• SquareFoot Platform A technology-powered commercial real estate brokerage platform that enables businesses to search, compare, and lease office space. Combines an online listings database with broker services and smart search tools to guide tenants from initial inquiry through lease signing, with commissions paid by landlords.
• FLEX by SquareFoot A flexible office space solution allowing businesses to lease any space in NYC for 2-3 years instead of traditional 5-10 year terms. Offers turnkey solutions with flexible terms, sizing, and services including furniture, IT, and cleaning.
• PivotDesk An online marketplace acquired by SquareFoot that connects businesses needing office space with those that have extra space to sublease. Enables growing companies to offset costs of unused space and provides flexible, cost-effective options for small teams.

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• TranscendcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 July 2021Atlanta-based company acquired by SquareFoot to expand operations to Atlanta and southern markets. Led by Patrick Braswell. Represents SquareFoot's first entry into the Atlanta market.
• UpsuiteminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 July 2021Acquired company whose acquisition preceded the Transcend acquisition and helped expand SquareFoot's market presence before entering Atlanta.
• PivotDeskcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 February 2019SquareFoot's first acquisition - a marketplace connecting people needing office space with those having extra space. PivotDesk allows growing businesses to offset costs of unused space and enables flexible, cost-effective options for small teams. PivotDesk operates as a stand-alone business within SquareFoot.
• Preferred Vendor NetworkminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerSquareFoot has assembled a network of preferred vendors offering exclusive discounts to clients including architects, furniture providers, IT/data vendors, and grants/incentives specialists for relocation to outer boroughs and select Manhattan areas.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Compass: Compass is a large, publicly listed real estate brokerage platform that started in residential and has expanded into adjacent commercial and luxury segments. Comparable to SquareFoot in combining technology-driven search and agent-led representation, though Compass is much larger and primarily residential, making it a broad incumbent rather than a direct competitor.
• LoopNet: LoopNet, a CoStar Group property, is the largest public marketplace for commercial real estate listings, including offices. It is comparable to SquareFoot's listing-database approach but operates as a lead-generation platform for landlord brokers rather than as a tenant-representation platform with broker services.
• Cushman & Wakefield: Cushman & Wakefield is a global commercial real estate services firm offering tenant representation, agency leasing, and workplace strategy. Comparable to SquareFoot's tenant-representation and brokerage services but at much greater scale across global markets; competes for the same enterprise office mandates.
• CBRE: CBRE is the world's largest commercial real estate services firm with a global tenant-representation practice. Comparable to SquareFoot on tenant representation and advisory work, but operates as a broad incumbent with substantially larger teams, deeper landlord relationships, and global scale.
• JLL (Jones Lang LaSalle): JLL is a global real estate services firm with a significant tenant-representation and office-leasing practice in the US. Comparable to SquareFoot's tenant-representation and brokerage services but with global scale, institutional client base, and broader service offerings including capital markets and project management.

Direct peers

• VTS: VTS is a commercial real estate leasing and asset management platform that digitizes deal management for landlords and brokers. While focused on the landlord side rather than tenant representation, it is a closely comparable PropTech player operating in the same office-leasing workflow and competing for the same broker mindshare.
• CommercialCafe: CommercialCafe is a Yardi-owned commercial real estate listing and search platform with national office space inventory. Comparable to SquareFoot's listing and search functionality, it represents a direct competitor for online office-space discovery by prospective tenants.
• Crexi: Crexi is a commercial real estate marketplace and technology platform with strong adoption among brokers for listing and deal management. It overlaps with SquareFoot on listings, search, and broker workflow tools, though it focuses more on investment sales than tenant representation.
• OfficeSpace.com: OfficeSpace.com is a commercial real estate listing and brokerage platform focused on office leasing across North America. Directly comparable to SquareFoot's tenant-representation and online-search model, it serves as a head-to-head competitor for SMB and mid-market office leases.
• Catylist: Catylist is a commercial real estate listing platform serving brokers and tenants across the US with a focus on office and retail. It competes with SquareFoot's listing-database approach, providing an alternative search platform for office leasing prospects.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/thesqft
• Facebookfacebook.com/TheSquareFoot
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/2220452
• Instagraminstagram.com/squarefoot_

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds8 records

Investors12 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A3 records

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about SquareFoot