Loosecubes Shutdown Casts A Shadow Over ‘Workspace Marketplace’ Model

Loosecubes, a “community marketplace” for workspace which connected members with a desk or place to work, is shutting down. Friday, November 16th will be the last day the site honors reservations booked through it and anything booked after that date will be cancelled. The site will then go dark. The two and a half year old startup got $7.8 million only 5 months ago so it’s a little odd to see this behaviour. In total it raised a total of $9.03M from Accel Partners, Battery Ventures, New Enterprise Associates, Hamilton Investment, Partners Revolution and private individuals.

We’re reaching out to the company to fill in the blanks. But we’re wildly guessing that the marketplace simply didn’t attract the kinds of numbers to make the model sustainable, no matter how much money they threw at the problem.

Meantime, here is the statement on their site.

Dear Loosecubers, Friends, and Fans,

We are deeply saddened to announce that on November 16, 2012, Loosecubes will be closing its doors and shutting down.

The past two and a half years have been such an incredible journey. From a team of two to an incredible company of 16. From a big idea to a community of 25,000+ Loosecubers in over 60 countries around the world. And from a single coworking space to thousands of hosts, from Stockholm to San Diego, who have opened their work environments and minds to a better way of working.

We’ve been amazed to see how the Loosecubes community has grown and embraced a new attitude toward the workplace and the people they work around. We’ve watched Loosecubers launch organic food companies together, hire each other, and attend each others’ weddings. It has been incredible to see just how many partnerships, businesses, and friendships have been formed in in our midst.

We’ve learned so much along the way, and are so appreciative of all who have lent their time, feedback, and expertise to making Loosecubes a success. We’re humbled to have had even a small impact on peoples’ ability to do great work.

What this means for our members and hosts:

Friday, November 16th will be the last day that we will honor reservations booked through Loosecubes.
Loosecubes reservations booked for any date after November 16th have been cancelled.
After November 16th, members and hosts will no longer be able to log-in and access our site.
Member confidentiality is of the upmost importance to us. Rest assured that we would never share or sell your information without your permission.

If you have any questions, please contact hi@loosecubes.com and we’ll do our best to get back to you as soon as possible.

Thank you to all of our members, hosts, colleagues and friends who have spent their workdays with us and supported us along the way.

Keep work loose,

Campbell, Anna and the Loosecubes Team