WeWork’s Mission Possible program wants to give DC startups free office space

WeWork’s D.C.-based team announced on Thursday that the company is launching its Mission Possible program in the District. Mission Possible, for those as yet unfamiliar, is a program through which WeWork seeks to support local entrepreneurs that want to join the WeWork community but lack the “resources” (read: rent money).
Through Mission Possible, entrepreneurs can apply for free office space in one of three different WeWork D.C. locations — K Street, Manhattan Laundry and Dupont Circle. But WeWork city lead Kley Sippel says the program is about a lot more than free stuff. It’s about giving and creating community with these as-yet-under-resourced startups or entrepreneurs.
As such, in addition to getting between three and 12 months of sponsored workspace (depending on need, Sippel said), successful applicants to Mission Possible will benefit from mentorship, the opportunity to participate in a variety of demo day pitch competitions and interaction with some program partners.
For Mission Possible D.C. these partners include the leadership fellowship program StartingBloc — WeWork hopes to facilitate a joint session between its upcoming cohort in D.C. and the Mission Possible entrepreneurs, Sippel said — and Project 500, the American University and Deputy Mayor of Greater Economic Opportunity partnership that aims to support small business in the District.
“We didn’t want to just give sponsored space away,” Sippel said. “We wanted it to be more than that.”
A version of Mission Possible was first tested at the WeWork Brooklyn Heights location in Brooklyn in July, as our sister site Technical.ly Brooklyn reported. Since then it has expanded to four cities including, most recently, Philadelphia. Technical.ly Philly reported the launch of Mission Possible in Philly on Wednesday.
It’s a new and interesting philanthropic turn for WeWork but, as Technical.ly Brooklyn noted in July, perhaps not a bad way to stand out in an increasingly crowded coworking market.
It’s unclear how many startups and entrepreneurs will take part in Mission Possible, but Sippel said the company has pledged 10 percent of its available space to the program. As a way to further give back, participant entrepreneurs are asked to donate five hours of time to a nonprofit of their choice for every month they’re part of Mission Possible.
Find more information, and apply, here.