GorillaSpace Announces Seed Funding Led by Top Japanese Property Developer Mitsubishi Estate Co., Ltd

SINGAPORE�- Media OutReach - 11 June 2019 – GorillaSpace , the Singapore-based online
marketplace for workspace, announced that it has raised an undisclosed seed
round of investment led by top Japanese real estate developer Mitsubishi Estate
Co., Ltd. (MEC), with additional participation from a consortium of investors,
including Silversea Media Group, a leading immersive media solution provider in
Asia.

The GorillaSpace team aims to build the marketplace of choice for workspace.

This investment from MEC marks the first proptech investment
outside of Japan, as well as the first seed level investment for the property
giant. The investment from MEC is part of their initiative to discover new
business projects and to develop synergy with existing businesses. MEC has
already committed 10 billion yen (US$100
million) to this purpose, of which the GorillaSpace investment is part.

“We believe in the
founders who have deep commercial real estate experience and technical
capabilities. GorillaSpace represents a fresh and exciting way to showcase
office spaces and help businesses find workspaces more efficiently.” said
Kyota Kobayashi, the General Manager of MEC’s Business Creation Department.

Founded
in 2018 by Ben and Ginny Eckblad, GorillaSpace empowers businesses to more
easily find and lease office space, coworking spaces and serviced offices. The
platform is the first property marketplace to offer both long-term office
spaces and flexible workspace options, as well as a hybrid of the two
categories – the so-called “Core and Flex” that is gaining increasing attention
in corporate real estate circles.

GorillaSpace
is creating an ecosystem that serves businesses looking for space, space
operators, landlords, as well as brokers. GorillaSpace is unique in its
partnership approach with brokers.

“We believe brokers play an important role in
delivering the more complex transactions, where expertise in negotiations and
in the preparation of documentation is a requisite,” said Ben Eckblad,
Founder and CEO of GorillaSpace. “By the
same token, simple transactions with flexible space operators and requiring
only a license agreement can be concluded online.“

Key
advantages of the platform for businesses include:

?       Verified Listings
Workspaces offered on the platform are verified in-person by a dedicated team
to protect users from wrong information about the space’s price, area and
availability, as well as fraudulent advertisers.

?       360° Panoramas, Videos, 3D/VR Virtual Tours &
High-Definition Images

Users can experience each workspace through high
definition images, 360° panoramas, videos and 3D virtual tours, enabling faster
selection of spaces before making the physical visits.

?       Smart Recommendation Engine

Unlike other workspace platforms that depend solely on
search, GorillaSpace also offers a personalized and curated smart
recommendation engine to quickly match businesses with the right workspace for
their needs. Using this solution, businesses can reduce up to 75 hours of their
search time.

“With the support of our strategic investors,
we are able to accelerate the reach and scope of our online marketplace always
with the single focus to delight our users,” said Ben. “The commercial property market is
experiencing a shift from multi-year office space leases to more flexible
options. Businesses want less commitment upfront and GorillaSpace helps them
see all available options . Businesses now have the choice of combining a
long-term lease together with flexible space to house specialised teams or
temporary additional headcount.“

In
the first four months of 2019, GorillaSpace has helped over 1,000 businesses
find solutions to their workspace needs. Since the end of 2018, GorillaSpace
has seen a 21.5% month-on-month growth in traffic to the website, as well as a
growth of over 30% in listings on the platform.

Chang
HuanJian, from Funding Societies, found their workspace through GorillaSpace
and commented: “The space we found was
just like the photos and 360° panoramas shown online. I was able to communicate
the shortlisted options with our co-founders.This service really saved us a lot
of time and helped decision making.“

About GorillaSpace

GorillaSpace is the marketplace of choice for workspace.
Businesses use GorillaSpace to more easily find and lease office space,
coworking spaces, serviced offices and other workspaces. Users can experience
the workspaces via 360° panoramas, high resolution
photographs and videos. The GorillaSpace leadership
team has over two decades of experience in commercial real estate and
technology. Our mission is to make it easy for all companies to find the
perfect workspaces at every stage of their business growth.

About Ben & Ginny
Eckblad

Ben and Ginny first met at college some 20 years ago, when they
were both studying at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA. Ben
brings 20+ years of commercial office transaction experience as well as the
vision on how GorillaSpace can help companies of all sizes with flexible space
requirements. He brings tried and tested best practices from tech companies,
bringing tech into real estate. In her previous work experience in a highly
successful FinTech company, Ginny was the go-to person to
start projects and quickly scale them globally. She is passionate about
building products and creating new businesses. Both founders are fluent in
English, French and Mandarin, with over two decades of experience working in
Greater China, Europe and South East Asia.

About MEC

Mitsubishi Estate Co., Ltd. (MEC), listed in Tokyo Stock
Exchange, is a leading international property development and investment
company with a substantial commercial and residential portfolio in Japan, which
includes over 30 major buildings in the Marunouchi area, Tokyo’s premium
central business district. MEC operates in Singapore through Mitsubishi Estate
Asia Pte. Ltd. (MEA), its wholly owned subsidiary, to seek opportunities in
Asia. MEA and other MEC bases in London and New York cover MEC’s global
operations as one team.

About Silversea Media
Group

Singapore’s Silversea Media Group (SMG) is a multi-national
technology company offering immersive media solutions. SMG has a proven
track-record of deploying immersive and interactive virtual tour experiences
across SE Asia, through strategic partnerships with top-tier real estate
players across the region.