GroupSpaces (stylized in
lowercase
Letter case is the distinction between the Letter (alphabet), letters that are in larger uppercase or capitals (or more formally ''majuscule'') and smaller lowercase (or more formally ''minuscule'') in the written representation of certain lang ...
as groupspaces) was a
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
-based online company that provides technology to help real-world clubs, societies, associations and other groups manage their membership and activities, and promote themselves online. Founded by
Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
students David Langer and Andy Young, the company was launched in the United Kingdom in 2007
and then since expanded into the United States and over 30 other countries.
The company has been inactive since 2013.
Revenue and funding
GroupSpaces generates revenue via a combination of premium accounts, targeted advertising and transaction commission from payments made through the site. The company also generates revenue by allowing graduate recruiters to advertise their campus activities and promote their opportunities to a highly employable community of students throughout the whole academic year. Campaigns can be targeted to specific universities and audiences such as fraternities, hobbyists and entrepreneurial clubs.
Since 2007, GroupSpaces has worked with over 70 graduate recruiters including
Allen & Overy
Allen & Overy LLP (informally A&O) is an international law firm. The firm has 580 partners and over 5,600 people worldwide. In 2022 A&O reported an increase in revenue to GBP1.96 billion and is the second largest law firm headquartered in th ...
,
Clifford Chance
Clifford Chance LLP is an international law firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom, and a member of the "Magic Circle", a group of London-based multinational law firms. It ranks as one of top ten largest law firms in the world measured bo ...
, Slaughter & May, Freshfields, BCG,
McKinsey & Company
McKinsey & Company is a global management consulting firm founded in 1926 by University of Chicago professor James O. McKinsey, that offers professional services to corporations, governments, and other organizations. McKinsey is the oldest and ...
,
Accenture
Accenture plc is an Irish-American professional services company based in Dublin, specializing in information technology (IT) services and consulting. A ''Fortune'' Global 500 company, it reported revenues of $61.6 billion in 2022. Accentur ...
, Deloitte, PwC, KPMG, Citi, JP Morgan, Barclays Capital,
Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley is an American multinational investment management and financial services company headquartered at 1585 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With offices in more than 41 countries and more than 75,000 employees, the fir ...
, Bank of England, Deutsche Bank,
Credit Suisse
Credit Suisse Group AG is a global investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland. Headquartered in Zürich, it maintains offices in all major financial centers around the world and is one of the nine global " ...
, RBS, UBS, Lloyd's of London and the NHS. GroupSpaces also works with many of the leading recruitment agencies in the UK including Euro RSCG Riley, SAS Design, Thirty Three, TMP Worldwide, Stafford Long, Work Communications, Mediacom and City & Law.
The company raised a small amount of angel finance from Avonmore Developments in January 2008.
In June 2010 it secured a $1.3 million (£860,000) investment round from
Index Ventures
Index Ventures is a European venture capital firm with dual headquarters in San Francisco and London, investing in technology-enabled companies with a focus on e-commerce, fintech, mobility, gaming, infrastructure/ AI, and security. Since its f ...
and a leading angel investor consortium including
Dave McClure
David "Dave" McClure is an entrepreneur and angel investor based in the San Francisco Bay Area, who founded the business accelerator 500 Startups (now 500 Global), serving as CEO until his resignation in 2017. He founded Practical Venture Capita ...
,
Chris Sacca
Christopher Sacca (born May 12, 1975) is an American venture investor, company advisor, entrepreneur, and lawyer. He is the proprietor of Lowercase Capital, a venture capital fund in the United States that has invested in seed and early-stage te ...
, Simon Levene, Meagan Marks, Ariel Poler and Quincy Smith of CODE Advisors. The previous backers, Stephen Bullock and Simon and Michael Blakey, of Avonmore Developments, also participated in the round.
The funding has been used to expand both the technical and marketing teams in both the United Kingdom and United States. In the first few months of operation in the United States, top schools such as
Harvard
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
,
Yale
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...
,
Princeton
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nine ...
,
MIT
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...
and
Stanford
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...
signed on with GroupSpaces.
In April 2013 Andy Young walked away from Groupspaces and by July 2013 it had become a "ghost operation" with no customer support and no development. The UK Companies Registry started compulsory winding up against the company in April 2013, and although this was withdrawn, as of 3 November 2013 the company was again overdue with required filings.
Awards
On April 13, 2011, GroupSpaces was named the winner of the Social Networking and Collaboration category of the Startup 100 awards.
Closure
On January 2, 2021, GroupSpaces announced its closure with effect from April 2, 2021.
References
{{Reflist
External links
Official website
Online advertising services and affiliate networks
Digital marketing companies of the United Kingdom
Groupware