PivotDesk revived, acquired

NEW YORK — PivotDesk, the online marketplace for office sharing born in Boulder that closed in October, has announced it is back up and running, thanks to an acquisition by New York-based Squarefoot.

Squarefoot is a commercial real estate technology company. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Jonathan Wasserstrum, CEO and co-founder of Squarefoot, told BizWest that he had always liked PivotDesk, and when he learned that the company was shutting down saw it as an opportunity to bring PivotDesk in-house.

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“It fits in strategically with us helping tenants with their office space needs,” he said. “We have current clients with excess space and get inbound inquiries from smaller users, both of which it makes sense to use PivotDesk. It’s a symbiotic partnership.”

Squarefoot said in a statement that its acquisition of PivotDesk positions the company to serve more businesses that prioritize flexibility in their office space search.

“As we began to look for ways to further establish ourselves as the one-stop shop for all small- and medium-business office space needs, the opportunity to pair PivotDesk’s flexible, space-sharing marketplace with the technology, marketing, and brokerage expertise we have at SquareFoot was an ideal one,” Wasserstrum said in a prepared statement. “I look forward to growing our tenant-obsessed, technology-fueled commercial real estate company across the country.”

PivotDesk is a platform that connects companies with excess space to companies that need a workspace. In March 2017, PivotDesk was purchased by co-working space Industrious. But less than two years later, PivotDesk said it was shuttering its business. Now it is being revived by Squarefoot, a commercial real estate technology company founded in 2012 with offices in New York and Belfast.

In a blog post explaining the acquisition, Wasserstrum said PivotDesk will operate as a stand-alone business and is currently seeking a general manager. Wasserstrum told BizWest that PivotDesk, which was born in Boulder but has not operated there for some time, will operate out of New York and the general manager can be based anywhere.

With the combined two companies, Squarefoot will be able to serve as a one-stop-shop for office needs, from one single desk to a corporate headquarters. Squarefoot clients who have extra space will be able to make money off that space by using the PivotDesk platform, and businesses will have a variety of flexible office spaces to choose from.