WERK1

What WERK1 does

WERK1, operated by the legal entity WERK1.Bayern GmbH (registered at Amtsgericht München, HRB 126093), is a Munich-based digital startup center, coworking, and coliving hub founded in 2013 and located in the Werksviertel-Mitte district near Ostbahnhof. The organization provides an integrated physical workspace-and-community platform serving three primary segments: early-stage digital/technology startups seeking incubation, office space, coaching and mentoring; freelancers and independent professionals seeking flexible coworking; and startup founders and employees needing coliving housing near the ecosystem. It is a private, government-backed non-profit-style entity funded in part by Bavarian state initiatives (StmWi Bayern and Gründerland Bayern), with no disclosed venture or private equity ownership.

Operationally, WERK1 runs a real estate and community platform rather than a proprietary software product. Its core offerings comprise a startup incubator with team offices plus coaching, mentoring and funding facilitation; flexible coworking memberships; coliving apartments; an event venue with meeting rooms (including the annual Startup WORK job fair, first held in 2019); and an on-site WERK1 Café. The footprint spans roughly 11,000 sqm across locations, including the WERK1.4 Schlosserpassage site (Am Kartoffelgarten 14) and the newer WERK1 Startup Hub at Friedenstraße 6/6a in the Stadtsparkasse München building, opened in early 2024 with over 3,300 sqm across five floors.

The business model is primarily recurring, subscription-style revenue from startup office memberships, coworking memberships, coliving apartment rentals, and event/meeting-room venue rental, supplemented by food-and-beverage sales through the café. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed. Go-to-market is community-led and event-driven, leveraging 100+ annual events, an alumni referral network, government-program partnerships, and digital/social content to acquire members. Scale indicators include 40+ current startups, 250+ alumni, 200+ coworking members, an 80% claimed five-year startup success rate, and 1.7 billion EUR in venture capital raised cumulatively by alumni startups such as Scalable Capital, Limehome, Cartken, Edurino and Tacto.

Name

WERK1

Legal name

WERK1.Bayern GmbH

Website

https://werk1.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

WERK1 is a Munich-based digital startup incubator, coworking, and coliving hub offering office space, coaching, mentoring, events, and housing to early-stage tech startups, freelancers, and founders, backed by Bavarian state funding programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Startup Incubation and Coworking Spaces

NAICS

Facilities Support Services (561210), Rooming and Boarding Houses, Dormitories, and Workers' Camps (72131)

SIC

Hotels, Rooming Houses, Camps & Other Lodging Places (7000), Services-To Dwellings & Other Buildings (7340)

akta.pro primary industry

Workplace Technology & Smart Office Support (Room Booking Systems, IT/AV Liaison) (IMAIALAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

Digital Nomad & Remote-Work Monthly Stays (THAMAFAI)

Keywords

• Startup incubation services
• Coworking space rentals
• Coliving apartment rentals
• Startup coaching mentoring
• Event venue rentals

Headquarters

HQ city

Munich

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Startup Office Memberships: Rental of office spaces to startups in the incubator program, including coaching and mentoring support.
2. Coworking Memberships: Flexible coworking memberships for freelancers and creative professionals with access to workspace, workshops, and networking events.
3. Coliving Apartments: Rental of coliving apartments for startup founders and employees.
4. Event Venue Rental: Meeting rooms and event location rental for external customers.
5. WERK1 Café: On-site café operations generating revenue from food and beverage sales.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

WERK1 operates a digital startup hub in Munich providing office space for incubated startups with coaching and mentoring, flexible coworking memberships for freelancers, coliving apartments for founders and employees, and meeting/event room rentals, complemented by an on-site café. The offering combines physical workspace rental with community programming and access to the Munich startup ecosystem and government funding pathways.

Product overview

WERK1 is a digital startup hub, coworking, and coliving center located in Munich's Werksviertel-Mitte district near Ostbahnhof. The company operates a single-location physical workspace ecosystem consisting of a startup incubator (with team offices, coaching, and mentoring), flexible coworking spaces, coliving apartments, event venues with meeting rooms, and an on-site café. The offering is a unified physical workspace-and-community platform rather than a modular software product, where all components share the same location and community infrastructure.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• WERK1 Café: On-site café located at WERK1.4 Schlosserpassage, Am Kartoffelgarten 14, 81671 Munich, offering food and beverages to community members
• WERK1 Startup Hub
• Startup WORK

Quantifiable outcome

• 80% success rate after 5 years for incubated startups
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Tech Quartier FrankfurtminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInnovation platform founded in 2016 in Frankfurt's financial district, bringing together startups, companies, and talent. Partner in the Digital-Hub-Initiative of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. Cross-location collaboration for startup ecosystem.
• Stadtsparkasse MünchencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMunich's municipal savings bank whose building at Friedenstraße 6 and 6a houses the WERK1 Startup Hub location opened in early 2024.
• LexwareminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLexware Incubator promotional program for startups offering free software usage, individual coaching, workshops and information on overcoming entrepreneurial obstacles.
• Tabakfabrik LinzminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMixed-use urban site in Linz, Austria, serving as a cultural and creative industries hub, contemporary technologies, and startup ecosystem - location partner for cross-border collaboration.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Mindspace: Mindspace runs premium coworking and flexible office spaces across Germany, the Netherlands, Israel, and the UK, serving startups through enterprise clients. It is one of WERK1's most direct operational peers in the German flex-workspace category, with overlapping target customers and event programming.
• Factory Berlin: Factory Berlin operates large startup campuses in Berlin offering coworking, office, and community programs for digital startups. It shares WERK1's positioning as a 'startup ecosystem hub' combining workspace, events, and venture access — a direct German counterpart in scale and mission.
• AHORUM (Workhaus): AHORUM/Workhaus operates coworking and innovation spaces focused on the German Mittelstand and startup ecosystem, including urban-hub formats. It overlaps with WERK1 on community-driven coworking and startup programming, particularly in the Hamburg/northern Germany footprint.
• Space (Munich): Space is a Munich coworking operator offering flexible workspace and a startup-oriented community directly inside WERK1's home market. It competes for the same freelancer and early-stage startup tenants and is one of the closest local direct competitors.
• betahaus Berlin: betahaus is a long-running Berlin coworking and startup community space with event programming and incubator-style memberships. It targets the same freelancer and early-stage startup segments as WERK1 and shares the 'community + events + flex office' value proposition.
• Tech Quartier Frankfurt: Tech Quartier is a Frankfurt-based innovation hub bringing together startups, corporates, and talent, and is already a documented cross-location partner of WERK1. Its startup-engagement and digital-hub model mirrors WERK1's positioning, making it both a peer and a strategic collaborator.
• Impact Hub Germany: Impact Hub runs a global network of impact- and innovation-focused coworking spaces, including Munich and Berlin. Its community-led model, event programming, and incubator offerings closely parallel WERK1's positioning toward socially purposeful digital startups.

Regional players

• Tabakfabrik Linz: Tabakfabrik Linz is a mixed-use creative-industries and startup hub in Linz, Austria, already a documented WERK1 location partner. While it serves a different geography and emphasizes cultural/creative industries, its hub-and-community operating model is highly comparable.

Broad incumbents

• WeWork: WeWork is a large global coworking operator with a presence across Germany including Munich. It serves a broader enterprise and SMB mix rather than WERK1's startup-hub niche, but it sets benchmark pricing and competes directly for office tenants in the same districts.
• IWG / Regus: IWG (parent of Regus, HQ, and Signature) is the largest global flexible-workspace operator with a significant Munich and German footprint. While broader and less startup-specialized than WERK1, it competes for the same SME and enterprise tenants and pressures pricing across the Munich market.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC1yNfAuhSL39kockhmy_16A
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/10506623
• Instagraminstagram.com/werk1.startups
• Xx.com/werk1muc
• Facebookfacebook.com/werk1muenchen

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about WERK1