Co-working space provider WeWork Inc. has raised a staggering $4.4 billion in a venture capital round raised from Japanese telco giant the SoftBank Group and its venture capital subsidiary, the SoftBank Vision Fund.

The round is split a couple of different ways. Some $3 billion of the $4.4 billion is being invested directly in WeWork’s parent company, while the remaining $1.4 billion is going to company subsidiaries, specifically three newly created geo-focused companies: WeWork China, WeWork Japan and WeWork Pacific, the last being focused on Southeast Asia.

Founded in 2010, WeWork is the world’s largest co-working space provider, though the company describes itself as a “platform for creators” in that it provides the space, community and services needed for startups and others to “create [their] life’s work.”

As of earlier this year, the company has a presence in 36 cities in 15 countries and attempts to differentiate itself from others in the co-working space by offering additional services such as co-living spaces in some locations and community and networking events that include expert speakers. The company also offers services such as support and discounts for banking, financing and shipping.

To sum it up more simply, WeWork is essentially a real estate play that buys buildings that tech companies and startups can use for office space. They’re located particularly in locations outside of their original base. For example, some of the company’s biggest customers include Amazon.com Inc., Microsoft Corp., Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. and Citrix Systems Inc.

“WeWork is leveraging the latest technologies and its own proprietary data systems to radically transform the way people work,” Masayoshi Son, chairman and chief executive officer of SoftBank, said in a statement. WeWork has “created a sharing platform that offers maximum flexibility and opportunity to creators of all types, from young entrepreneurs to large multinational companies.”

The new round takes WeWork’s total funding to date to $9.85 billion. The company said it would use the new funding to “connect more people to WeWork’s global community,” which is marketingspeak for the fact that they’re going to buy more buildings that they can rent out to tech companies.

Photo: Pixabay