Less than a month after Donald Trump was elected President, 20 first-generation and immigrant Latinos met up in a room on a Wednesday night to talk about their worries.
Immigration. Stigma. Workplace environment. Investment opportunities.
They sat on humble swivel chairs --- some were in tears, and others were fueled by frustration.
The event was branded as a panel on “The State of Latino Entrepreneurship,” hosted by a coworking space tailored specifically for immigrant entrepreneurs - PLUG Cambridge. But much like the space itself, the event did not feel like a run of the mill forum. There were no business cards or suits.
Much like PLUG, the night felt like a safe space - humble, and unfiltered.
Now, almost two years after that rainy Wednesday night ,founder Oliver Sanchez said he’s selling PLUG, citing competition from corporate coworking spaces like WeWork and Workbar, says founder Oliver Sanchez. He says that the space has been acquired by Rent24, a coworking space company based in Germany.
Now, almost two years after that rainy Wednesday night, PLUG is shutting down, citing competition from corporate coworking spaces like WeWork and Workbar, says founder Oliver Sanchez. He says that the space has been acquired by an undisclosed buyer.
The idea of PLUG was to pay extra attention to international entrepreneurs, said Sanchez.
“What is commonly known as the bro-culture of co-working spaces, like kegs and all... I don’t know if these entrepreneurs would feel comfortable going to those mega-spaces.”
The issue was not the lack of demand, he said, but instead that PLUG needed to expand in order to compete with these spaces, fast. He said in order to be more competitive, they’d have to grow from 2,000 square feet to at least 6,00 square feet.
“But you can’t compete without capital,” he said.
PLUG shuttering will leave 40 immigrant entrepreneurs, hailing from Brazil, China, India, Italy and more have an opportunity to stay put -- however it is unknown whether the new owners will raise the membership fees.
According to Rent24’s website, it has a global footprint, with spaces based in Tel Aviv to New York. One member, Diego Alves, the chief executive of GoPetie, a company that started as a social network for pet owners and now wants to modernize dog licensing, is not foreign to this experience.
Alves came to PLUG after Canopy, another coworking space that operated in Somerville before shutting down. Now he’s in the same situation, once again: he has to find a new place for his team of five people to work out of, as his company plans to launch services over multiple new towns in the next few months.
“PLUG is the heart of Cambridge, and places like these have been taken over by the big boys,” he said. “The vital spirit of a coworking space is being affordable and being open.”
PLUG differentiates itself from other coworking spaces, says Sanchez, partly because of its specialized services. People come to Sanchez for a sense of community, immigration advice and training sessions that are specifically tailored for foreign-born co-founders.
It’s often that English is not the only language in the room, he said.
Some of Alves’ favorite parts of PLUG: no walls, the desks are spread, and that “there are no doors you need to knock on - because there are no doors.”
Alves said that he, along with some of the other entrepreneurs, have the option to continue at PLUG until the end of the year. He’s welcome to the idea, as long as the new owners don’t hike up the rent.
And as for his next choice of coworking space? Alves will focus on price, resources and of course, parking. He’s not going to look for an immigrant-focused space specifically, he said, mostly because he is optimistic that Cambridge and Somerville diversity makes it happen naturally.
“You’ll always find a founder in the room from a different country,” he said.
As for Sanchez, he's working on his latest company called "AccelHub" that will host programs, pitch nights and information sessions geared towards immigrants. It's like PLUG but with no physical space. They will reserve space on a need basis.
