• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Elon Musk on MacKenzie Scott giving away $26 billion of her fortune: 'Sadly,' it makes the world a worse place

2

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year

3

Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster

1

Elon Musk on MacKenzie Scott giving away $26 billion of her fortune: 'Sadly,' it makes the world a worse place

2

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year

3

Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster
NewslettersTerm Sheet

Inside the fall of the Wing, the $365M women’s co-working startup that closed its doors for good this summer

By
Jessica Mathews
Jessica Mathews
Former Senior Writer
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Jessica Mathews
Jessica Mathews
Former Senior Writer
Down Arrow Button Icon
October 11, 2022, 7:03 AM ET
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

35,000.

That was the number of women on the Wing’s waitlist at its heyday in early 2020. The Wing, a female-focused co-working space and club, had drawn visits from the likes of Hillary Clinton, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Jennifer Lopez. It was made out to be a sisterhood of sorts—one for professionals, freelancers, and creative types, with all the plush amenities and the Instagrammable, millennial-pink interior meant to satisfy a “girlboss.” With lactation rooms and daycare services, the Wing promised to be a safe space for women, designed by women. 

The Wing had notched a valuation of $365 million and was backed by the likes of WeWork’s Adam Neumann, Sequoia Capital’s Jess Lee, soccer player Alex Morgan, and Serena Williams’s Serena Ventures.

So what happened? This summer, the Wing became yet another example of a high-flying startup spiraling to its demise. In a feature for Fortune, my colleague Paige McGlauflin delves into what went wrong, and how scandal, tough economics, and a hyper-focus on scale drove the Wing to failure. 

Interviews with founders, investors, executives, and former employees detail how the Wing grew—then fell apart, and McGlauflin’s reporting reveals a founder obsessed with expansion who seemed reluctant to ask for help, then later, an IWG subsidiary grappling with scandal and poor business management in the wake of a pandemic economy. (The Wing didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment.)

“There wasn’t a lot of transparency around what the strategy was at all,” a former executive told McGlauflin. An investor said Audrey Gelman, one of the two co-founders and the company’s early CEO, didn’t really interact with some of the smaller investors. Then there were scandals, such as its handling of a white guest allegedly harassing a Black member and her guest, or later, the New York Times exposé that detailed accounts of mistreatment and disillusionment from 26 staff members. After the murder of George Floyd rocked the U.S., the Wing pledged to donate $200,000 to Black Lives Matter on the same day it allegedly informed staffers it couldn’t pay for the $500 grants it had previously said laid-off employees could apply for. Gelman ultimately resigned as CEO, and later, flexible-office space pioneer IWG acquired a majority stake in the Wing for an undisclosed sum.

While the company seemed determined to start a new chapter, it set its sights on opening new office spaces even as several of its pre-existing ones still remained closed during COVID. Employees told McGlauflin that members continued to mistreat staff members, with one stating that 20% of the people she worked with “treated you like you were the help” or “said things that were not appropriate.” The company suffered from high leadership turnover, and it never seemed able to shake the stigma of its past scandals, which continued to haunt the company.

For former employees, many felt a sense of relief at the closure of the Wing, McGlauflin tells me. “Several told me they were surprised it took that long for the Wing to shut down,”  she says. “The writing was on the wall for a lot of them.”

You can read more about the Wing’s demise in the full feature story here.

Doing good by doing good. Fortune’s Change the World list went live Monday, our annual list of for-profit companies tackling society’s biggest challenges. The 2022 list—Fortune’s eighth—features companies, both big and small, that are addressing climate change, the war in Ukraine, gender and racial inequities, and lack of economic opportunity. They range from drone-delivery pioneers, green-energy architects, pharmacy newcomers, and digital banks. You can read about the companies that made this year’s list here.

See you tomorrow,

Jessica Mathews
Twitter: @jessicakmathews
Email: jessica.mathews@fortune.com
Submit a deal for the Term Sheet newsletter here.

Jackson Fordyce curated the deals section of today’s newsletter.

VENTURE DEALS

- Factorial, a Barcelona, Spain-based automated HR management platform for small and medium businesses, raised $120 million in Series C funding. Atomico led the round and was joined by investors including GIC, Tiger Global, CRV, K-Fund, and Creandum. 

- Alkymi, a New York-based data workflow automation company, raised $21 million in Series A funding. Intel Capital led the round and was joined by investors including Canaan, Work-Bench, and SimCorp. 

- Meilisearch, a Paris, France-based open-source search engine, raised $15 million in Series A funding. Felicis led the round and was joined by investors including CRV, LocalGlobe, ESOP, Mango Capital, Seedcamp, and Vercel CEO Guillermo Rauch. 

- Kive, a Stockholm, Sweden-based inspiration management platform for creatives, raised $7 million in seed funding. Heartcore led the round and was joined by investors including Creandum and EQT Ventures. 

- Payable, a London, U.K.-based payment operations platform, raised $6 million in seed funding. CRV and Earlybird Venture Capital co-led the round and were joined by investors including Conversion Capital, Clocktower Ventures, and other angels. 

- Ribbon, a London, U.K.-based in-product research platform developer, raised £2.63 million ($2.90 million) in seed funding. Octopus Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including MMC Ventures, Concept Ventures, and other angels.

- Cloud Factory, a Tallinn, Estonia-based 3D printing jewelry company, raised €2 million ($2.1 million) in seed funding. Change Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including  Superhero Capital, Printify co-founder Artis Kehris, and Oberlo co-founder and CEO Andrius Šlimas. 

PRIVATE EQUITY

- Insight Partners agreed to acquire a minority stake in Aptean, an Alpharetta, Ga.-based enterprise software company, for about $3.55 billion including debt, according to Bloomberg. Per terms of the deal, Vista Equity Partners plans to exit the company and TA Associates will reinvest in the company. 

- Imperial Dade, backed by Advent, acquired Mobile Janitorial & Paper, a Mobile, Ala.-based  janitorial sanitation and food service products distributor. Financial terms were not disclosed.

- SDS, backed by Parthenon, acquired JMS and Associates, a Farmington Hills, Mich.-based data processing services firm. Financial terms were not disclosed.

EXITS

- Maritime Partners acquired M/G Transport Services, a Metairie, La.-based marine transportation services provider, from Auxo Investment Partners. Financial terms were not disclosed. 

This is the web version of Term Sheet, a daily newsletter on the biggest deals and dealmakers. Sign up to get it delivered free to your inbox.

About the Author
By Jessica MathewsFormer Senior Writer
LinkedIn iconTwitter icon

Jessica Mathews is a former senior writer for Fortune, where she covered transportation, defense tech, and Elon Musk’s companies.

See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Newsletters

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Newsletters

Lisa Cook and E. Jean Carroll win against Trump at the Supreme Court
NewslettersMPW Daily
Lisa Cook and E. Jean Carroll win against Trump at the Supreme Court
By Emma HinchliffeJune 29, 2026
8 hours ago
Coworkers watching World Cup at a bar
NewslettersFortune Workplace Innovation
How smart employers are turning the World Cup into a workplace win
By Emma BurleighJune 29, 2026
13 hours ago
The sell-off in Strategy’s preferred stock has investors questioning everything
NewslettersFortune Crypto
The sell-off in Strategy’s preferred stock has investors questioning everything
By Ben WeissJune 29, 2026
13 hours ago
As JPMorgan’s CEO race heats up, the case for a two-person succession contest is put to the test
C-SuiteNext to Lead
As JPMorgan’s CEO race heats up, the case for a two-person succession contest is put to the test
By Ruth UmohJune 29, 2026
14 hours ago
CEOs have forgotten the moderate playbook. The stakes for relearning it have never been higher
NewslettersCEO Daily
CEOs have forgotten the moderate playbook. The stakes for relearning it have never been higher
By Diane BradyJune 29, 2026
16 hours ago
The Google Midlothian Data Center in Midlothian, Texas, on Friday, Nov. 14, 2025. Alphabet's Google plans to invest $40 billion in three new Texas data centers. (Photo: Jonathan Johnson/Bloomberg/Getty Images)
NewslettersFortune Tech
Google: Thank you Meta! But your AI capacity is in another data center!
By Andrew NuscaJune 29, 2026
16 hours ago

Most Popular

Elon Musk on MacKenzie Scott giving away $26 billion of her fortune: 'Sadly,' it makes the world a worse place
Success
Elon Musk on MacKenzie Scott giving away $26 billion of her fortune: 'Sadly,' it makes the world a worse place
By Sydney LakeJune 29, 2026
10 hours ago
MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year
Success
MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year
By Sydney LakeJune 25, 2026
5 days ago
Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster
Success
Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster
By Preston ForeJune 27, 2026
3 days ago
The retired college professor fighting a $313 trespassing ticket in Wisconsin thinks he's part of a national struggle
Environment
The retired college professor fighting a $313 trespassing ticket in Wisconsin thinks he's part of a national struggle
By Catherina GioinoJune 28, 2026
2 days ago
Ex-Google engineer says Larry Page, Sergey Brin and Sundar Pichai share the same trait—it's the lesson he swears by as a $7.2 billion AI CEO
Success
Ex-Google engineer says Larry Page, Sergey Brin and Sundar Pichai share the same trait—it's the lesson he swears by as a $7.2 billion AI CEO
By Orianna Rosa RoyleJune 28, 2026
2 days ago
Cristiano Ronaldo is soccer's first-ever billionaire: He went from begging for burgers outside McDonald's to landing a $400 million contract
Success
Cristiano Ronaldo is soccer's first-ever billionaire: He went from begging for burgers outside McDonald's to landing a $400 million contract
By Preston ForeJune 28, 2026
2 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.