EvolveHer, a Chicago coworking and career building company for women, is being acquired by AllBright, a London-based network for women and careers.
EvolveHer, founded in 2017 by CEO Alicia Driskill, had made a name for itself as one of Chicago’s only coworking spaces for women. Members not only received a place to work, but also access to career and entrepreneurial workshops, and a community of other ambitious women.
But when the pandemic hit last year, EvolveHer’s business began to suffer as Covid-19 kept workers at home. EvolveHer closed its two River North coworking offices in July, and Driskill laid off most of her team and converted the remaining staff to contract workers.
With in-person events untenable, EvolveHer doubled down on its digital offerings, hosting virtual events and expanding its audience beyond Chicago. To date, the startup has hosted more than 750 events, and Driskill, who completely bootstrapped EvolveHer, said the company now has a community of over 4,500 people.
“It’s been a wild ride over the past year but it was a great decision to shift into digital earlier than we had originally planned to,” Driskill said. “I pivoted my business model to really focus on building a digital community and growing content offerings that included virtual events.”
As part of the acquisition, EvolveHer will be folded into AllBright, and the EvolveHer name and branding will disappear. Driskill would not disclose the exact terms of the deal but said EvolveHer is being acquired in an “asset-based deal.”
“We wanted to partner with a company that’s able to provide access to amazing events and unique technologies that we didn’t have within our platform,” Driskill said. “We realized our brands were really in alignment with each other.”
AllBright, founded in 2018 by Debbie Wosskow and Anna Jones, also recently announced the acquisition of Australian female lifestyle platform, The Grace Tales, and is planning to expand its services to India and Canada.
Driskill will lead AllBright’s U.S. operations and build out the company’s strategy and growth plan. AllBright, which has raised $42 million in funding, also has a brick-and-mortar club in Los Angeles.
The closing of EvolveHer's locations comes as the coworking industry and women-specific coworking companies have suffered amid the pandemic. The Wing, a women-focused, luxury coworking company, has temporarily closed its Fulton Market office that it opened in 2019. In April, The Wing laid off the majority of its workers. It is unclear if The Wing's Chicago office will reopen post-Covid.
A message on its website reads: “We hope to reopen our spaces as soon as it is safe to do so, and are currently assessing our options for safely reopening with limited capacity in accordance with local guidance.”
