WeWork acquires real-life social networking startup Meetup

WeWork has acquired real-life social networking service Meetup that would continue to operate as a standalone company for now. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

"....together, Meetup and WeWork will use technology to create new and innovative ways of building community and we will be able to reach many more people around the globe," Meetup shared on its site.

Launched in 2002, Meetup is a social networking service that allows users to organize meetings offline related to their shared interests and passions.

While other social networking companies like Facebook and LinkedIn, focus on keeping their users glued on their sites for as long as possible, Meetup’s purpose was always to get people off the internet and interact in the real world. By connecting people to one another, Meetup would entice them to get offline by creating or finding local events around getting fit, playing music, learning languages, or any other interests.

In a blog post announcing the deal, WeWork CEO and co-founder Adam Neumann pointed to the two companies’ similar goal of “bringing people together.” WeWork lets small businesses, including startups, rent office space and related services in shared workspaces around the world.

By acquiring Meetup, WeWork gets an avenue to reach Meetup’s millions of members (including 300,000 group organizers) while potentially taking advantage of WeWork’s existing real estate to offer those members places to meet after work hours.

WeWork, which is valued at nearly $20 billion following a $4.4 billion investment from Japan’s Softbank Group earlier this year, has been expanding rapidly of late, growing its network to include more than 10 million square feet of office space in 170 locations in 58 cities.