Talent Garden, Europe's largest platform for digital talent, closed a capital increase of 12 million euro to increase its network of coworking spaces (sharing work) and focus on training, events and innovation with companies. This is the second most important financing round carried out at European level in the sector, the collection between equity and debt, sees - for the first time in Italy - the participation of 500 Startups, the largest incubator in the world based in San Francisco and directed by Dave McClure, and Endeavor Catalyst, sponsor Reid Hoffman founder of LinkedIn.
Many Italian family offices intervened alongside him, directed by Tamburi Investment Partners (TIP), which also participated directly in the round and is today one of the main shareholders of the company. These include the Angelini and Dompé families (pharmaceuticals), the D'amico shipowners, the entrepreneurs of the Ferrero metallurgical sector to which are added Italian digital entrepreneurs such as Volagratis, MutuiOnLine, Alkemy and Esprinet.
Talent Garden is the largest coworking network in Europe by number of locations: from Brescia, where it was born five years ago, it has now reached 17 campuses in 5 European countries, with more than 1500 digital professionals working in the spaces, hundreds of managers from dozens of companies trained by TAG Innovation School, the school of innovation of Talent Garden, and hundreds of students who train every day to become the professionals of the future. In addition, there are over 500 events hosted or organized every year on the various campuses on innovation and digital topics.
Secondo Davide Dattoli, founder and CEO of Talent Garden: “It is an immense satisfaction, with this operation we strengthen our leadership at European level and above all we increase the strength of a now unique network, which starting from Italy has developed in many countries with the aim of expanding into many other cities. We are already the third player in the world by number of campuses and we want to realize our dream of connecting the most innovative and brilliant talents, not only from Europe.”
Talent Garden with this round is positioned as first player in Europe in a growing sector where speed and quality of the network are essential. The bet of the largest international investors is to recognize that the world of work has changed and that new players are needed that offer innovative services and a constantly evolving workspace with a strong community component, where people learn and connect thanks to courses and events.
In the United States, coworking continues to be one of the most interesting sectors attracts very important capitals: New York-based company WeWork raised more than $620 million in the past two years. Still in the Big Apple, the General Assembly reached 110 million dollars while NeueHouse 25 million. In San Francisco, another coworking stronghold, RocketSpace closed a round of 336 million and Galvanize with 45.
In detail the 2017-2018 business plan focuses on:
The coworking of Talent Garden, partner for smart working: the goal is to directly open a dozen new spaces in Europe by the end of the year for a total of 70.000 m8.000 and XNUMX talents connected to the network. Places open 24 hours a day where all innovation professionals, whether they are freelancers, startups, digital SMEs or large companies with their own innovation areas, they can find an innovative workspace designed to stimulate productivity and increase professional relationships. The plan also provides for the expansion of the existing franchise network to provide an increasingly widespread service in the various territories.
The formation of TAG Innovation School, update today for tomorrow's work: the first digital school in Europe by number of students and companies trained will continue to grow in Italy (in January 2017 the new office in Rome will open) and abroad (in the markets where Talent Garden is already present) to prepare the professionals of tomorrow for the professions most in demand in the world of work (software developer, digital designer, e-commerce expert, big data expert). Strong investments also on the B2B part, to help companies in the digital transformation process by training managers and executives with personalized training courses.
Talent Garden events, to connect innovators and companies: thanks to its widespread presence in the area, Talent Garden has also established itself as the place where innovators meet, where companies and startups develop collaborations and where many professionals update and network around the world of the digital. In this context, the increase in the number of spaces and markets in which it operates makes Talent Garden a unique player for connect with the best of European and global innovation.
