‘Female-focused’ coworking space to open downtown location in the fall

Detroit’s only “female-focused” coworking space is expanding. Femology, which has been operating out of a 500-square-foot office on East Jefferson Avenue, will open an approximately 3,000-square-foot downtown space in the fall.

The exact location hasn’t been announced yet. Femology says there will be a groundbreaking event later in the summer.

The company did release some details about the new location. In addition to both shared and private office space and conference rooms, there will also be a wellness room with space for yoga, a podcast room, and lactation space for new moms.

The design of the new space is being lead by two Detroit-based women: Imani Day and architect Chandra Moore, founder of coG-Studio.

Femology also said it will focus on tackling the funding disparity for women founders, citing an article in Entrepreneur which uncovered that “out of $85 billion in venture capital funding [in 2017], only 2.2 percent went to female founders.” In addition to office membership, it will offer a variety of funding workshops, a business accelerator, plus networking and other events.

“My own personal experience in gender disparity fueled my entrepreneurial ventures,” said Meagan Ward, co-founder and CEO of Femology, in a release. “Women are becoming more comfortable with creating opportunities for themselves and for others, but starting a business comes with it’s own set of challenges. Women need support, strategy, and funding options to scale.”

Femology has launched a crowdfunding campaign to help buildout the new space through the platform iFundWomen. It’s seeking to raise $100,000 by August 10.