WeWork announced plans to open its first Dallas WeWork Labs in its Thanksgiving Tower location in November.

Will Akins

Will Akins — bringing his previous experience as director of both the Dallas Entrepreneur Center (DEC) and Addison Treehouse — will serve as manager of the WeWork Labs in Dallas.

“Dallas has created a unique ecosystem fit for startups, thanks to its diverse business makeup, large investment capital and growing workforce,” WeWork’s global leader Roee Adler said in a statement.

WeWork Labs provide customized programming and mentorship and serves a hub for local startups. The Dallas location will join 23 WeWork Labs worldwide including New York, Washington, D.C., Shanghai, and São Paulo, Brazil and an education network that includes classes from experts in their fields, our online content platform for Labs members, and one-on-one mentor meetings Akins told Dallas Innovates. He added Labs has resources to help startups in any industry be successful.

“Dallas is an incredibly vibrant city buzzing with startups and having WeWork Labs here as a resource is an incredible opportunity.”
Nathan Lenahan

“Our main priority is our members and the community we provide them. We are very excited for Dallas to be the home of Labs here in Texas and to continue supporting entrepreneurs and early-stage startups get off the ground in a more significant way,” said Nathan Lenahan, WeWork’s general manager overseeing the Texas market. “Dallas is an incredibly vibrant city buzzing with startups and having WeWork Labs here as a resource is an incredible opportunity.”

Akins said his experience has been connecting startups to resources that will help them become successful, and having WeWork Labs come to North Texas illustrates how the community has grown and how the area’s entrepreneurial activity is gaining nationwide attention.

“The DEC raised awareness about the why DFW is a great place to start a business, and Labs coming here is proof that WeWork believes the same thing,” said Akins. “A long-time motto in the startup community is that ‘a rising tide raises all ships’ and I see Labs helping to raise that tide.”

The WeWork Labs Dallas announcement comes at the same time as the opening of the first Labs location in Canada, located in Toronto, and on the heels of a Seattle location which opened late last month. The program was initially announced last December.

WeWork’s coworking spaces and member services serve a global community of over 268,000 members in 287 locations across 77 cities and 23 countries, including businesses ranging from startups to 25 percent of Fortune 500 companies, according to WeWork.