Having received its second nomination for the Best Coworking in the World award, Avila Spaces has beaten the competition and brings, for the first time, this award to Portugal. The opening of Avila Work City, the first coworking space integrated into a shopping center at Atrium Saldanha, contributed in a big way to this victory.
The results are in: Avila Spaces has been named the Best Coworking in the World. The Portuguese coworking space won the top prize in its category at the Global Startup Awards and was elected this distinction by an international jury and a number of online votes.
In 2021, Avila Spaces was nominated for the same award as part of a competition within the Global Startup Awards and that aims to recognize the best organizations in the global startup ecosystem.
Now, two years later, the nomination was repeated, but the outcome was different: Avila Spaces has been named the Best Coworking Space in the World.
This marks the first time a Portuguese shared workspace has won this award, which adds to its designation as the Best Coworking Space in Southern Europe which was announced in the summer of 2022. Avila Spaces is the only coworking operator to win two ‘Best Coworking Space in Southern Europe’ awards.
“This award reinforces our leadership in the flexible workspace sector in Portugal and is the result of almost 20 years of a journey marked by constant innovation of our services,” said Carlos Gonçalves, CEO of Avila Spaces.
“On the other hand, we also recognize that we benefit from a favorable environment for setting up companies in Portugal, at a time when our entrepreneurship ecosystem is gaining more and more strength, and Lisbon appears at the top of the rankings of the best cities to invest, work and live in,” added Gonçalves.
At the Global Startup Awards gala, which took place in Copenhagen, Avila Spaces beat coworking operators from countries that had already won the respective regional awards: Sweden, South Africa, Georgia, Bulgaria, Sri-Lanka, Malaysia, and United Arab Emirates.
The ceremony was attended by the Portuguese Ambassador in Denmark, João Maria Cabral. “It was with great pleasure and pride that I attended the consecration of Avila Spaces as the Best Coworking in the World,” said Cabral. “It is a distinction that also honors our country, that illustrates the quality of our entrepreneurship and that values Portugal as a privileged destination for digital nomads and incubator of start-ups.”
One of the main reasons for this victory was the opening of what is the first cowork space integrated in a shopping centre: the Avila Work City, at Atrium Saldanha (Sonae Sierra) in an open space of 700 square meters with lounge area, individual and collaborative work zones, private offices, meeting rooms, phone booths, and a pantry.
Another factor that contributed to the distinction was the great diversity of companies that are part of the Avila Spaces community – from entrepreneurs, digital nomads, to multinational companies such as Chanel, Lindt or Royal Caribbean – providing excellent networking and synergy opportunities.
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ABOUT AVILA SPACES
Avila Spaces was considered the ‘Best Coworking in the World’ in the Global Startup Awards 2023, making the operator the most awarded business center in Portugal and an innovative leader. Avila Spaces offers a premium, state-of-the-art environment where businesses can grow in a sustained and dynamic way. In 2022, Avila Spaces opened what was the first and only coworking project inserted in the galleries of a shopping mall: Avila Work City, in the Atrium Saldanha.
Founded in 2004, Avila Spaces currently has over 1,000 national and international customers and is a member and representative for Portugal in the eOffice International Network. Avila Spaces has its premises in Lisbon, in Avenida da República, and in the Atrium Saldanha Shopping Centre. In 2019 and 2021, it was also awarded ‘Best Coworking Space’ at the South Europe Startup Awards, which reinforced the company’s leadership in the flexible and shared workspaces sector and its abilities to provide a culture and environment that encourages innovation.
