The Global Start Awards (GSA) took place remotely this year, and among the winners was the South African startup Workshop17. The company won against five other finalists, and each of them - including Workshop17 - had first won their regional version of the award before qualifying for the final. In the end, Workshop17 was declared GSA’s Best Co-Working Space startup of 2020.
Results were announced via a live-stream on 27 January, when all of the winners were made public. The GSA Global Grand Finals only happens once every two years and every time the award show seeks to recognise the “future-shapers” of the world. The startups that are more likely to overall the way we live and do business in the future.
In a statement before the results were announced, Workshop17 co-founder and CEO Paul Keursten stated that they felt honored and excited to be given a chance to compete on a global level with other future-shapers in the co-working space industry. After he found out that the company had own, the company released the following statement:
“We are thrilled to be a winner of such an established, global competition. It is a recognition for our vision to be a platform for entrepreneurship and innovation, and a tribute to the whole South African ecosystem of start-ups and innovator.”
Winning the award was the icing on the cake for Workshop17, as the company had already started the year headed in a good direction. The lockdown measures imposed in 2020 forced many managers and business owners to rethink their office spaces, which naturally lead more workers to seek alternative workspace solutions like the ones provided by the startup.
On top of that, Workshop17 also started the year with big plans to expand its footprint in South Africa. The company already operates co-working spaces in Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Paarl. And now they are planning on opening a second location in Johannesburg, with a launch date set for March 1st.
The new location - called The Bank - will open in the suburb of Rosebank. The new location is being planned from the ground up with great consideration to feedback that the company got from workers in their other locations. Members of The Bank will gain a variety of perks, including preferential rates at a local hotel, and access to an on-site restaurant called Proud Mary. This will allow members to get breakfast, lunch, and dinner, all on location.
That’s on top of the regular perks that come with Workshop17 coworking spaces, such as flexible use of offices, board rooms, and access to enterprise-grade Wi-Fi connections.
“Our vision is to support South Africans to be more productive wherever they are by providing the necessary physical and digital resources,” Keursten stated. “To meet the moment, our catalogue boasts physical and virtual offices, boardrooms, hospitality services, as well as enterprise technology solutions and solutions for workspaces in the home.”
At the time of writing, there have been few mentions of the company’s GSA victory outside of their official social media accounts. But it’s safe to assume that the company will soon want to spread the word further with the help of a good press release distribution service.
