Dean Hopkins—CEO of the company, which provides members with office space and growth services—told The Logic that the firm’s London location did not have any members and was being put “on pause.” He said John Stamler, managing director for London, will remain with the company, but community manager Rob McPherson has been let go. OneEleven will instead focus on its Toronto location, which Hopkins said signed up its 50th member company last month. The company is exploring new revenue sources like startup data and information products, and adding facilities like a media production studio for its member companies. (BetaKit, The Logic)
Talking point: The pullback has come swiftly for OneEleven, which launched the Ottawa location in April 2018 and its hiring of the London staff in January 2019. Hopkins had originally sketched out an even bigger expansion plan. The company announced a Vancouver office—which never opened, Hopkins confirmed to The Logic—at the same time as Ottawa, and also cited Boston, Berlin, Austin, Singapore and Beijing as destinations it was scouting. That expansion is now on hold. But Hopkins framed the changes as a reallocation of resources, repeatedly citing the opportunity to grow in Toronto: “We are very bullish and very excited about the Toronto market. We see nothing but upside.”