Fundraise Up Takes 15K SF at Brooklyn’s Industry City Campus
By Celia Young May 25, 2021 3:01 pm
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Online fundraising platform Fundraise Up is heading to Industry City after signing a three-year lease for 15,000 square feet at the 6 million-square-foot, mixed-use complex in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.
Fundraise Up — which just recently finished its Series A funding round — will move its headquarters to Building 3 in Industry City from its nearby office at 219 36th Street. Asking rents in Industry City range from $15 to $40 per square foot, according to Crain’s New York Business, which first reported the lease.
“More often than not, when the founders of a newly-funded startup walk through the door, they want a pre-built space that is plug-and-play,” Kathe Chase, director of leasing at Industry City, said in a statement. “The goal is to be up and running immediately — while spending very little capital — in hopes that the space will be quickly outgrown.
Founded in 2017, Fundraise Up uses artificial intelligence to help nonprofits — like UNICEF USA, the American Heart Association and the World Health Organization Foundation — raise money. The company expects to more than double its employee count by the end of the year.
“The need for an optimized way to capture donations became more essential with the halt of in-person fundraising events in 2020, so the speed at which we operate has grown drastically within the last year,” Peter Byrnes, co-founder and CEO of Fundraise Up, said in a statement. “Industry City provides the feel of a big-tech campus, with its collaborative spaces and conveniences, and provides our employees with numerous social experiences that are key to growing our team culture. This is important for us as we grow.”
Jeff Fein, senior vice president of leasing at Industry City, represented the landlords — Belvedere Capital, Jamestown and Angelo Gordon & Co. — internally in the transaction. Fundraise Up did not have a broker.
Marketing studio The Garage, post-production firm KMH Integration, used photo and video equipment platform MPB, and payment application company Square are among the other companies that call Industry City home. Furniture brand West Elm recently added a 15,000-square-foot outlet store at the campus, bringing its total footprint at Industry City to 128,000 square feet.
Industry City saw 50 percent of its workers return to their offices at the 35-acre, 16-building complex earlier this year, Commercial Observer reported.
