Anyone involved with the startup scene in Munich can hardly miss Werk1. As a digital entrepreneurship center, it brings together in one location what startups would otherwise have to painstakingly search for: offices and an incubator with individual coaching and mentoring, two coworking spaces, event and meeting spaces, an in-house café, and since 2023, the coliving concept where I will be spending the next week.
The idea behind it is both simple and smart: to make it easy for startups to bring employees and partners from all over the world to Munich – no small feat in one of Germany’s most expensive and tightest housing markets. More than 60 furnished apartments, bookable from one to six months, directly connected to the entire building’s infrastructure. Those who move in aren’t just renting a place; they automatically immerse themselves in the network of coworking, events, and the active community of founders and their teams. This interplay of living, working, and networking makes Werk1 one of the city’s most exciting startup hotspots.
What to expect during the week
I want to show what everyday life there is really like. I’m curious about the daily routine: When does the café fill up, when is the coworking space packed, and when does quiet set in? How do living and working intertwine when both take place in the very same building? Just as important to me are the faces behind it all. I’ll be talking to founders and team members who took the leap to Munich for their startups, as well as the people who keep Werk1 running. And then there are the encounters that simply happen by chance. Coliving thrives on serendipity: a chat over breakfast, a pitch over an after-work beer, a contact made while waiting for the elevator. I’m excited to see who I’ll meet and what stories will emerge.
The coliving experiment
Starting next week, I will be reporting directly from Werk1 with impressions, interviews, and an honest look at life between the coworking desk and the kitchen table. If you want to know what Munich’s startup scene actually feels like when you live right in the middle of it, check out our website and our social media channels.
Virginia Benkhalid is 21 years old and is completing an external internship at Munich Startup as part of her dual study program with the City of Munich. During this time, she was able to gain exciting insights into the startup world – and that is exactly what my reports from Werk1 are all about.
