Alabama Futures Fund invests in The Office Exchange, making flexible workspaces more accessible
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The Alabama Futures Fund (AFF) has worked for years to bring promising startups to Birmingham’s ever-growing tech industry. Their latest investment is The Office Exchange, a Denver, Colorado based startup that works to provide short-term leases for commercial properties.
Investing in the future
To date, the Alabama Futures Fund has invested in 14 different early-stage startups across the country, bringing their talent and ambition to our state.
Many of these startups have moved their headquarters to our neck of the woods in Birmingham, including:
and more companies that are working to make your life easier.
Most recently joining the lineup is The Office Exchange, a Colorado-based startup that’s changing the way we work.
The Office Exchange has developed a marketplace platform connecting property owners, leasing brokers and property managers with potential leaseholders in order to provide short-term leases for commercial properties.
Meet Office Exchange
It’s no secret that the pandemic has changed the way we work forever, with many of us transitioning from office buildings to our own living rooms.
As a result, many companies have transitioned from large company-wide spaces to smaller, more distributed places to work.
The Office Exchange is making the most of empty or under-utilized office space by connecting those empty spaces with a new generation of workplaces that need the flexibility of short-term rental agreements.
Alabama Futures Fund hopped on board as the lead investor for The Office Exchange, following a recommendation from Redhawk Advisory, LLC, AFF’s investment manager.
“The OE platform is the first end-to-end solution for both “Guests” and “Hosts” where the entire process, from finding the space to rent through signing a lease and scheduling rental payments, can be managed through a single platform. The market timing for Office Exchange could not be better.”
Matt Hottle, Partner, Redhawk Advisory, LLC
Here’s how it works:
Through The Office Exchange, potential “guests” can search by category, selecting properties based on intended use, location, lease length and even whether or not the space is furnished.
In turn, property owners (“hosts”) can list any available space and flexibly adjust availability, pricing and terms in real-time. Listings are free to hosts, however, The Office Exchange takes a small percentage of the rent and fees charged so they can continue to provide a quick and affordable listing process.
Welcome to The Magic City
Devin Davie, CEO and Co-Founder of The Office Exchange, is very optimistic about making the move to Birmingham.
“With the combination of the AFF partnership, a growing tech ecosystem in Alabama and phenomenal opportunities to disrupt the commercial real-estate market, we expect this move to be catalytic to our growth.”
Devin Davie
We can’t wait to see what The Office Exchange can do to grow Birmingham’s modern work environment.
Looking to learn more about what the Alabama Futures Fund has done for Bham? Check it out:
- From Silicon Valley to Birmingham. Alabama Futures Fund brings new businesses to the Magic City
- Alabama Futures Fund gets $25 Million to fund early stage startups from an A team of investors including Charles Barkley
- New York-based HealNow Inc. to move to Birmingham thanks to Alabama Futures Fund
- Tech company to relocate from California to Birmingham – CEO is “blown away” by the city
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