A new woman-focused coworking space called Hera Hub will open in downtown Minneapolis later this year, founder Felena Hanson said.
Hera Hub will take up about 1,000 square feet in CommonGrounds Workplace in 801 S. Marquette Ave. It's slated to open around the end of the summer, Hanson said. Memberships will range from $99 to $149, depending on the level of membership. About 50 memberships will be available to start.
Founded in 2011, Hera Hub opened its first location in Washington, D.C. It now has six locations and about 500 members around the country, not including the Minneapolis location. It will also open locations in San Jose and Salt Lake City this year through a partnership it has with CommonGrounds.
Hera Hub will operate the spaces through a licensing model and is looking for a licensee to run the Minneapolis space.
The long-term potential for Hera Hub in Minneapolis is yet to be determined, Hanson said. "It could be something where we get a community started in the [CommonGrounds] space and then move on and open a bigger space," she said.
Hera Hub provides coworking space as well as daily workshops and events. Spaces usually have about 20 hours a week of educational content, most of which is led by members of the community.
"Our secret sauce is really the content and education and community," Hanson said.
San Diego-based CommonGrounds opened its 27,500 square-foot Minneapolis space in the former TCF Bank atrium building in 2019. The fast-growing coworking company spent $2.7 millionbuilding the space out, according to city building permits.
"CommonGrounds strives to maintain a diverse and inclusive environment at all of our workplaces. Providing opportunities for female entrepreneurs is important to us and our communities," Common Grounds CEO Jacob Bates said in a statement.
Hera Hub's main competition in the Twin Cities will be The Coven, a co-working company that caters to women, non-binary and trans people. It has one location in Minneapolis and one in St. Paul and about 500 members.
The Riveter, another coworking company aimed at women, closed all of its physical locations (including one in Edina) last year as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
