SHACK15

What SHACK15 does

SHACK15 is a private, membership-based social club and community hub for entrepreneurs, innovators, and changemakers, operating out of a 51,000 sqft space inside San Francisco's iconic Ferry Building. Founded by Jørn Lyseggen — who previously founded Meltwater and MEST Africa — the club houses lounges, a café, bars, and meeting rooms, and curates a community of approximately 2,000 members drawn from the Silicon Valley founder, investor, and innovator ecosystem. The company's product surface extends beyond physical space to include the SHACK15 Conversations podcast, the SHACK15 Journal, the SHACK15 Art Prize, and SHACK15 Ventures, an affiliated early-stage fund investing $100K–$1M in DeepTech and AI startups alongside the SHACK15 Angel Syndicate.

The business model is anchored in recurring membership dues for access to the space, programming, and community network, supplemented by bar & dining revenue and private event hosting. SHACK15 Ventures is a capital-deployment arm investing the fund's own capital in early-stage AI and DeepTech companies; it is positioned as a member benefit and community flywheel rather than a near-term profit center. Distribution is community-led and event-driven: prospective members apply to join, and recurring AI hackathons, TED AI co-hosted programming, fireside chats with high-profile founders and investors, and partnerships with organizations such as Equinox, Cerebral Valley, OpenAI, and Meltwater drive both acquisition and engagement. The underlying technology stack is a community and content platform (podcast distribution, journal/blog CMS, member management) rather than a proprietary software product, with no APIs, SDKs, or disclosed AI/ML capabilities of SHACK15's own.

Operationally, SHACK15 is a single-location, founder-led business with a core Ventures team of four and an 11–50 employee footprint. The company is privately held with no disclosed institutional investors, and ownership commentary indicates founder control with no outside shareholders identified. SHACK15 positions itself as the "port of entry into the Silicon Valley ecosystem," differentiating against generic co-working through bundled programming, cultural programming (Art Prize), and embedded venture capital access.

Name

SHACK15

Legal name

SHACK15

Website

https://shack15.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2024

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

SHACK15 is a San Francisco–based membership social club in the Ferry Building, offering 51,000 sqft of workspace, dining, and event space for a community of 2,000 entrepreneurs, innovators, and investors, plus an affiliated early-stage DeepTech/AI venture fund.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Members-only social club and community space

NAICS

Rooming and Boarding Houses, Dormitories, and Workers' Camps (72131)

SIC

Services-Membership Sports & Recreation Clubs (7997), Hotels, Rooming Houses, Camps & Other Lodging Places (7000)

akta.pro primary industry

Student & Youth Hostels (Youth Organization/HI-style) (THAGAGAH)

Keywords

• Members-only social club
• Entrepreneur community space
• Workspace hospitality services
• Early-stage venture fund
• Curated event programming

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Membership Fees: SHACK15 operates primarily as a membership-based social club. Members pay for access to the community, workspace, events, bar & dining, and the broader Silicon Valley ecosystem network.
2. Bar & Dining: On-site bar and dining services at the Ferry Building location provide food and beverage revenue to members and guests.
3. SHACK15 Ventures: Early-stage venture fund investing in DeepTech and AI startups at angel, pre-seed, and seed stages with checks ranging from $100K to $1M. Returns generated through equity exits from portfolio companies.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

SHACK15 operates a 51,000 sqft membership-based social club and community space inside San Francisco's Ferry Building, offering members access to lounges, meeting rooms, cafe, bar and dining, curated cultural experiences, and private event hosting. It also runs complementary programs: SHACK15 Ventures (an early-stage DeepTech/AI investment fund with $100K–$1M checks plus an Angel Syndicate), the SHACK15 Art Prize fellowship, and the SHACK15 Conversations podcast.

Product overview

SHACK15 is a social club and community space for entrepreneurs, innovators, and changemakers based in San Francisco's iconic Ferry Building. The offering is a unified hospitality and community platform consisting of membership access to a 51,000 sqft facility (with lounges, cafe, bars, and meeting rooms), Bar & Dining services, Experiences (events, speakers, and programming), and Private Events hosting. SHACK15 also operates complementary programs including SHACK15 Ventures (an early-stage DeepTech/AI investment fund), the SHACK15 Art Prize (a $200,000 artist fellowship), and the SHACK15 Conversations Podcast (interviews with community members). The community comprises approximately 2,000 entrepreneurs, innovators, and investors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• SHACK15 Membership Application-based membership program providing individuals with access to SHACK15's community of 2,000 entrepreneurs, innovators, and investors, and to the 51,000 sqft facility in the Ferry Building with lounges, cafe, bars, and meeting rooms.
• Bar & Dining Food and beverage offerings including bar services and dining experiences available to SHACK15 members and their guests at the Ferry Building location.
• Experiences Curated programming including immersive events, pop-up culinary experiences, world-class speakers, DJs, Artists-in-Residence, and cultural programming designed for SHACK15 members.
• Private Events Event hosting services for private gatherings, corporate functions, and special occasions held at the SHACK15 venue in the Ferry Building.
• SHACK15 Ventures Early-stage venture fund and members-only Angel Syndicate investing in DeepTech and AI startups at angel, pre-seed, and seed stages with individual checks ranging from $100,000 to $1,000,000.
• SHACK15 Art Prize Artist award and fellowship program that awards $200,000 in grants to seven SHACK15 Fellows, supporting the creation of new work about life in the Bay Area and culminating in a public exhibition at SHACK15 during SF Art Week 2026.
• SHACK15 Conversations Podcast Podcast featuring deep-dive conversations with founders, investors, artists, athletes, and entrepreneurs from the SHACK15 community, recorded live at SHACK15 in San Francisco and distributed on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts.

Quantifiable outcome

• 2,000 members in the SHACK15 community
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• TEDflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 October 2023SHACK15 co-hosted the first-ever TED AI in San Francisco. This flagship partnership included hosting a 24-hour Multimodal AI Hackathon, the TED AI after-party, and Day 2 of AI conversations featuring speakers like Stephen Wolfram, Marily Nika, Jerry Liu, Yohei Nakajima and Vivek Natarajan. Curated by SHACK15 members Sam & Walter De Brouwer in collaboration with TED.
• EquinoxcoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 3 October 2023Exclusive partnership providing SHACK15 members with access to Equinox fitness clubs including reduced initiation fees, preferred pricing, unlimited group fitness classes, complimentary personal training and Pilates sessions, access to EQX+ App, and special discounts on spa and shop purchases. Located at EQX Beale Street near the Ferry Building.
• Cerebral ValleyflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 29 March 2023Cerebral Valley is a community for AI builders and founders based in San Francisco. They partnered with SHACK15 to co-host multiple hackathons including AI For Good, ChatGPT hackathons, and the Multimodal AI Hackathon. SHACK15 provides the physical space while Cerebral Valley organizes and promotes the events.
• OpenAIcoreTechnology or Integration · 29 March 2023OpenAI provided mentorship and access to GPT-4 API and GPT Plugins for hackathon participants. Rohan Calum and Zack Kass from OpenAI served as mentors during hackathon events at SHACK15.
• MEST AfricacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMEST Africa is the non-profit arm of Meltwater, established in Ghana in 2008. SHACK15 and MEST co-hosted a conference on African tech innovation highlighting startups and investment opportunities. MEST has trained and developed thousands of software entrepreneurs. SHACK15 founder Jorn Lyseggen also founded MEST.
• ElevenLabsminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPartner for the Multimodal AI Hackathon, providing voice synthesis AI technology for participants to use in their projects.
• Art BaecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerArt Bae curates the SHACK15 Art Prize in partnership, helping select the seven SHACK15 Fellows who receive $200,000 in total grants. The program culminates in an exhibition at SHACK15 during SF Art Week 2026.
• We❤SFcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative partnership between SHACK15 and We❤SF community to create the SHACK15 Art Prize supporting bold, insightful work about life in the Bay Area.
• WeaviateminorGTM or Marketing PartnerSponsor for Multimodal AI Hackathon providing 6 months free access to their technology for winning teams.
• PineconeminorGTM or Marketing PartnerSponsor for hackathons providing credits to participants and winners. Provided $1000 credits for hackathon winners.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Galvanize: Tech-focused co-working and learning community with campuses across the U.S. offering workspace, events, and education for engineers and founders. Comparable as a tech-ecosystem community hub with events and member-driven culture.
• RocketSpace: Tech-ecosystem campus and accelerator for enterprise startups, originally based in SF. Comparable as a curated, premium tech-startup community and workspace hub serving founders and enterprise innovators.
• Founders Space: Global startup incubator and community hub founded in San Francisco. Comparable in targeting early-stage founders with curated programming, mentor networks, and investor access in the Silicon Valley ecosystem.
• 1871: Chicago-based technology hub and incubator housing hundreds of startups with curated programming, events, and corporate partnerships. Comparable as a community-led startup hub, though regional rather than Silicon Valley-anchored.
• The Wing: Membership-based social club and co-working space (originally for women, now broader) with food, events, and programming. Closely comparable paid-membership community model targeting professional cohorts, though without a venture arm.
• Soho House: Global membership-based social club for creatives and professionals, with an expanding portfolio of houses including Soho Works co-working. Most directly comparable to SHACK15's premium paid-membership social club model with food, beverage, and event programming.
• NeueHouse: Members-only workspace and cultural community for creatives, founders, and storytellers in NYC, LA, and London. Directly comparable in combining paid membership, premium workspace, F&B, and curated cultural programming.

Emerging players

• Antler: Global early-stage VC and startup generator running cohort programs worldwide. Comparable as a founder-focused platform combining community, programming, and pre-seed/seed capital, though it operates as a fund-first model rather than a membership club.

Regional players

• Station F: World's largest startup campus in Paris, offering workspace, programming, and investor access for thousands of founders. Comparable ecosystem model but operates in a different geography with a much larger, government-supported footprint.

Broad incumbents

• WeWork: Global co-working incumbent offering flexible office space with community and event programming. Overlaps with SHACK15 on workspace, F&B, and events but operates at vastly larger scale without a curated founder/investor community or venture arm.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC1fLiBmL2Z4V5X3W0N0
• Instagraminstagram.com/shack15
• Facebookfacebook.com/SHACK15community
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/shack15sanfrancisco

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments1 record

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

Frequently asked questions about SHACK15