Breather is a flexible workspace provider based in Montreal, Canada.[1]

Breather
IndustryProp Tech
Founded1 November 2012 Edit this on Wikidata
FounderCaterina Rizzi, Julien Smith
Headquarters
Area served
North America & the UK
Key people
  • Bryan Murphy (CEO)
  • Aja Baxter (General Counsel)
  • Dan Suozzi (CREO)
  • Glenn Felson (CSO)
  • Mark Frackt (CFO)
  • Philippe Bouffaut (CTO)
  • Samantha Goldman (VP of Marketing)
ProductsFlexible office and On Demand Meeting Space
Websitebreather.com

History

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Breather was founded by Caterina Rizzi and Julien Smith, the company's CEO.[2] The idea came from Smith when he traveled and found himself working in various coffee shops.[3] Smith is author of three books and often traveled for public speaking events.[2] He founded the company as a way to let people find a quiet space.[3] Breather had a soft launch in Montreal before expanding to New York City.[4] As of 2019, the company had more than 500 private workplaces available in 10 major cities.[5]

As of June 2018 the company has raised a cumulative $122.5 million in funding.[6]

In January 2019, the company announced that Julien Smith would step down as CEO. He was replaced by Bryan Murphy, a former eBay executive.[5]

In December 2020, it was reported that the company's US and UK subsidiaries filed for insolvency in order to pull out from leases in over 355 offices.[7] This follows the company's larger plan to reach profitability by 2021, after overspending US$120 million of the $122 million it had raised in venture funding.[8]

In May 2021, Industrious, a USA provider of flexible workspaces, acquired key assets of Breather's listings platform. Breather now operates as a marketplace where customers can search and book conference rooms that are listed by third party landlords.[9]

References

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  1. ^ "Breather Raises $45 Million to Open Flexible Workspaces Around the World". Techvibes. Retrieved 2019-04-09.
  2. ^ a b Stone, Madeline (13 May 2015). "This startup wants to solve a major problem facing business travelers". The Business Insider. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  3. ^ a b Ha, Anthony (4 September 2014). "Breather Raises $6M to Help City Dwellers Frind Private Breathing Rooms". TechCrunch. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  4. ^ Summers, Nick (27 February 2014). "Breather brings its 'Uber for private workspaces' to New York ahead of San Francisco roll-out". The Next Web. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  5. ^ a b "On-demand workspace platform Breather taps new CEO". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2019-04-09.
  6. ^ Schramm, Lauren Elkies (11 June 2018). "On-Demand Workspace Provider Breather Raises $45M in Funding Round". Commercial Observer.
  7. ^ "Co-working space firm Breather abandons hundreds of leases". The Logic. Retrieved 2020-12-19.
  8. ^ "Breather's US, UK subsidiaries reportedly file for insolvency | BetaKit". 2020-12-16. Retrieved 2020-12-19.
  9. ^ Manrodt, Alexis (2021-05-28). "Industrious Buys Breather Listing Platform". The Real Deal. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
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