Adrian Johnson, founder of Elyos AI and member of Y Combinator’s 2023 cohort, shared YC’s official new joiner manual guidance that explicitly discourages startups from using coworking spaces. The accelerator’s manual states YC doesn’t believe in coworking because it already provides community, citing concerns that open coworking spaces are loud and distracting, can overshadow a startup’s internal culture, and often house companies "going through the motions without truly being serious." YC argues the best startups have weird ideas and need private space with closed doors to operate differently from average startups.

The manual specifically mentions WeWork, advising founders who use it to secure enclosed offices rather than hot desks.

Worth noting that YC has backed Commery, Innov8, Deskimo, FlexDesk, AND Tandem, who are all in/around the coworking space, plus 2,700+ B2B startups who sell into or to coworking spaces.

Meeting Roomz, an on-demand workspace platform, has announced a strategic partnership with Singapore-based Deskimo to expand professional workspace availability across the Asia-Pacific region. The collaboration, announced on May 9, 2025, aims to meet growing demand for hybrid working environments while streamlining the booking process for hot desks, meeting rooms, and day passes through an API-driven integration.

Deskimo expands with a soft-launch of their corporate-focussed coworking booking app into the Japanese market, their 6th.