Female only co-working space One Roof has secured investment from female investors to secure their next premise in Melbourne.
Sheree Rubinstein, CEO of One Roof, set up the company with the inspiration to help women succeed in business and address the gender gap in entrepreneurship.
After major success as a simple pop-up using an Airbnb mansion in St Kilda, Sheree saw the clear demand for female focused working spaces and it’s now One Roof’s mission to expand across Australia. Eventually they look to incorporate features such as onsite childcare, cafes, wellness spaces, photography and podcasting studios and business lounges.
The vast majority of raised capital ($1 million) comes from female investors as well as financial support from Central Equity, Optus and MYOB. The potential of One Roof has been recognised by Carol Schwartz, Chair at Trawalla Foundation; Suzi Carp, Director, Co-Founder and Executive Director at River Capital;Leah Rettenmaier, Cofounder of Future Dreamers Girls’ Club supporting teenage girls based in Byron Bay; Sophie and Anthony Duggan of Rainspark Capitaland Elina and Andrew Wilson of Salt Catalyst.
Sheree left her legal career in 2014 with a passion to help women; finding the right investors was critical to ensure that the same passion and values were shared by those funding One Roof. She said “raising capital by yourself is a challenging process, especially as this is the first time I’ve done it. However, I knew who I wanted to invest in One Roof, and I was strategic with choosing the right kind of investors to help me take my dream forward, the ones who care about One Roof’s mission and values as much as I do. And I did find them. It’s been an absolute pleasure to work with all the investors. I also really love that the majority of our investors are women – it’s hard to find female investors out there. It’s amazing that we have so many women willing to back our business and movement.”
Carol Schwarz, Chair at Trawalla Foundation and One Roof investor, shared her enthusiasm for the expansion of the female entrepreneur space; “Trawalla Foundation is really excited about our investment in One Roof. Not only has Sheree Rubinstein proven the concept by having run One Roof successfully over a period of time, the organisation’s mission of supporting women as entrepreneurs and investors is perfectly aligned with the values and objectives of the Trawalla Foundation. I would say it’ a perfect fit.”
Suzi Carp, Director, Co-founder and Executive Director at River Capital, is also extremely happy to be investing in One Roof’s expansion. She said “one of the things that I am so grateful for in my life is meeting inspiring and extraordinary individuals. When I was first introduced to Sheree, I was impressed on so many levels. I loved her vision, her bold ambitions and dreams and everything One Roof stands for.”
One Roof began as a pop-up where 400 people came through the doors in just seven days and it now has 85 female-founded businesses working under its roof. This includes Finch, the financial app for your social life; Healthkit, a global so software platform for patients and practitioners that combines management software for practitioners and finding the right practitioner in your country for patients and Circle In which provides support, advice and tips for pregnant women and returning-to-work parents.
