I went to the hot NYC coworking space that’s become a hub for Gen Z founders building new apps

• Verci, a members-only coworking space and social club, has become a hub for consumer startups.
• Over a dozen consumer tech companies are working out of the NYC coworking space.
• I went to the location in Flatiron to see what it’s like to work there.

There’s a TikToker on the couch, startup founders are “locked in” at their desks, and the sun is beaming in on the top floor of a Manhattan office space with a view of the Empire State Building.

It’s an ordinary Friday afternoon at Verci, a members-only coworking and social space that describes itself as a “second home for the creative and curious in New York.”

Verci has become a home base for more than a dozen consumer-focused startups building AI and social apps. The space is a hub within a hub, as New York City has also become a hot spot for the category.

“I see more and more companies coming to New York,” Michael Giardino, CEO of AI consumer app startup Oleve, told Business Insider.

Verci was founded in 2022 by Ami Yoshimura (23) and Anant Vasudevan (25), who, like many other Gen Zers, were seeking community and in-person connection. The two came together to build a space with the feeling of a college campus for “people who are a bit more unconventional,” Yoshimura said.

After hosting pop-up spaces, Verci signed its first lease in 2023 and recently moved into a four-year lease for a two-floor space in the Flatiron District.

It’s not the first social club to occupy the address.

Scattered across Verci are archeological remains of the now-defunct coworking and social club for women: The Wing. Branded plates are still in the kitchen, and wall tiles with The Wing’s “W” logo are still on display.

The top floor, the more social floor where community events are held, is fully stocked with a kitchen, disco ball, and corner with flowy drapes that is converted to a tea room on Tuesdays and a presentation spot on Friday evenings.

One floor below is Verci Satellite, the business’s coworking arm, where startups like IRL-social company 222, social mood board app Housewarming (formerly Verse), and fintech startup Debbie are building consumer-focused apps.

“It’s a good cure for winter depression,” said Zibo Gao, cofounder of music app Soundmap (a sort of Pokémon Go for discovering new music), who told me he comes in four to five days a week.

In a bathroom on the startup floor is a sign that says: Employees LLM Users must wash hands before returning to work. There’s even a full rooftop deck with a panoramic view of skyscrapers.

Currently, Verci has a little under 300 members and accepts 25 to 50 new members in each cohort, many of whom are either in their 20s or early 30s.

Verci memberships have different priced tiers that start at $1,200 per year to access community events (and only have access to the space on Fridays). The more involved tiers include 24/7 access to the Flatiron space, and the Satellite tier starts at $600 dollars per month for desk space and startup resources. The private offices on the Satellite floor can cost startups thousands per month, Yoshimura added.

It’s about on par with other boutique coworking spaces in New York, but slightly cheaper than a membership to New York’s Soho House (though Soho House’s under-27 membership is a similar annual price to Verci’s) or Neuehouse.

A hub for consumer startups

As I’m walking around getting the full tour of the new Verci location, I run into several startup founders that I’ve written about for BI. One of 222’s cofounders walks by, and I also spot Zehra Naqvi, an angel investor and founder of AI social search startup Lore, on a call in a phone booth.

“Whenever I come here, I first check to see which of the other consumer founders I know that are in,” Naqvi said about her everyday Verci routine.

Naqvi and several other startup founders on the floor told me there’s a strong collaborative energy at Verci. If you have a question that needs an answer, someone will have one, or they’ll know someone else who does. Oleve’s Giardino told me working at Verci feels similar to the startup accelerator experience (Oleve’s team was in the Neo accelerator in 2023).

In total, there are 19 consumer startups working out of Verci, 14 of which have raised venture capital, Yoshimura said. At least two of the startups have gone through Y Combinator.

Vasudevan said some startups are even recruiting talent — either to hire or partner with, like creators — just by going upstairs. Upstairs that same day was Max Zavidow, a comedy creator with over 1 million TikTok followers. Walid Mohammed — a content creator whose influencer marketing agency, The Breadwinners Club, works with brands and startups targeting Gen Z audiences — was also upstairs and recently worked with Naqvi on Lore’s early social presence.

While the space is collaborative, there is some friendly competition.

“On one hand, building in consumer is so hard, and sometimes you’re isolated,” said Michelle Yin, CTO of Housewarming. “But then when you come here, you’re like, ‘Oh, everyone is in the same situation.’ It’s both inspiring, but I also do feel like it breeds a little bit of intrinsic motivation and competition.”

The consumer tech industry has been crunched for funding as investors turn to AI and enterprise bets. Last year, only 6% of investments from top VC firms went to consumer tech startups, according to a recent report from Silicon Valley Bank.

In the heart of Silicon Alley

Verci exists within a broader consumer tech hub: New York City.

“It seems like everyone doing consumer social is in New York, and everyone knows each other,” Yin said. She previously lived in the Bay Area while working as an engineer at Facebook.

While not everyone is in New York, there certainly is a boom of new dating apps (like Sitch or Left Field), IRL social startups (such as Posh and Partiful), and other consumer social categories. Derek Chu, a partner at venture capital firm FirstMark, recently told me he’s seeing a consumer tech “renaissance” in New York.

Jack Winston, cofounder of screen time control app BePresent, said the content creator and broader creative network in New York is helpful when building and marketing a consumer app right now.

“Founders in New York that are really successful in consumer social are successful because they have this ability to be tapped into the world,” Vasudevan said.