Unicorn insolvent: Was das über Berlins Coworking-Markt sagt

What happened to coworking operator Unicorn?

Unicorn is a Berlin flex office operator whose assets were placed under provisional self-administration by the Charlottenburg local court on 7 July 2025. In autumn 2025 the proceedings turned into regular insolvency, and the company has been wound down since then. Founded in 2015, Unicorn most recently ran around 16 locations with almost 20,000 square metres of space across Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, Munich, Potsdam and Lisbon, employing about 45 people (Coworking Europe, August 2025).

Self-administration does not mean an immediate shutdown, because management initially stays in office and the process runs under court supervision. What matters for context: the locations have not disappeared. Competitor Scaling Spaces took over six Unicorn sites and used them to expand into Munich, Hamburg and Cologne. The case is therefore less a closure than a market shake-out in which well-occupied space changes operator.

For Berlin's startup scene it is still a turning point, since Unicorn shaped the city's coworking landscape from 2015 on and was long one of its most visible providers. That even an established operator of this size stumbles says more about the market's changed conditions than about the single company.

Why did Unicorn become insolvent?

The central reason was a structural cost problem: sharply rising rents on its own leases combined with short-term income. Unicorn pointed above all to index-linked leases and rent increases from its own landlords. This is exactly the weak spot of many flex office providers. They sell flexibility to their customers but take on long-term rental commitments themselves.

An operator leases a large floor for many years, fits it out, furnishes it and runs reception, IT and cleaning. These fixed costs keep running even when occupancy falls. In Germany, index-linked rents make this worse, because they are tied to the consumer price index and have risen automatically through the inflation of recent years. As long as demand is high, the model holds. Once occupancy and income weaken while the index-linked rent keeps climbing, the calculation tips over. Unicorn shows that a modern product alone is not enough when the economic basis no longer fits the market.

How has Berlin's office market changed since 2019?

Berlin has shifted from a near-fully-let boom market to a far more selective one. At the end of 2019 the vacancy rate was around 1.3 percent, the lowest since the early 1990s, with a prime rent of about 37 to 38 euros per square metre per month. In the first quarter of 2026 the vacancy rate stands at 8.4 percent and the prime rent at 46.00 euros (CBRE, Q1 2026). More vacancy and yet rising prime rents seem contradictory but are typical: modern, well-located space stays in demand, while older and poorly fitted buildings come under pressure. The overview below shows the shift across the key figures.

Sources: vacancy and prime rent CBRE and JLL (Q1 2026), historical figures CBRE Research and Berliner Sparkasse. Values vary by market report and definition.

In short: Berlin has not crashed, but a sellers' market has become a selective market with real room for tenants to negotiate.

What role do home office and vacancy play?

Home office is the most important driver behind the rise in vacancy. According to the ifo Institute, the share of unused office workstations rose from around 4.6 percent (2019) to 12.3 percent (April 2023). More than one in ten desks sat empty on an average day, which noticeably reduced many firms' space needs. On top of that comes the typical time lag in the office market: companies rarely cancel leases immediately, and building projects started in boom times keep delivering new space during a downturn.

Berlin has experienced exactly this delayed quake. Vacancy rose from 1.3 percent (2019) at first moderately, before 2023 and 2024 brought the full force and pushed the rate to around 8.8 percent at the end of 2024. In the first quarter of 2026 it stands at 8.4 percent, supported by a recovering take-up that rose almost 50 percent year on year to 171,600 square metres (CBRE). The market is digesting the oversupply slowly. The split is striking: modern, central space stays scarce, while vacancy gathers mainly in older stock and secondary locations, so location and building quality now decide price and availability more than during the boom.

Why are companies subletting office space?

More and more companies are offering unused space for subletting, because home office and more cautious planning have created overcapacity. Anyone who signed a long lease before or during the boom often sits on more space than the team uses, and can hardly adjust costs quickly within running five or ten year contracts. The result: many firms press the reset button, shrink and hand part of the space to subtenants, often in central, high-quality locations.

How large this share is depends on the definition. Cushman and Wakefield puts the share of formal sublease offers in the vacancy at around 9 percent, while Berliner Sparkasse, including informally offered space, estimates up to a third. For companies searching, this is an opportunity, because sublet space is often already fitted out, furnished and available at short notice, and frequently below the terms of comparable direct leases. At the same time, this supply increases competition for classic coworking providers. Companies that want to sublet commercial office space or find a suitable sublet area can use specialised marketplaces such as SubOffice.

How are coworking spaces in Berlin doing right now?

Coworking in Berlin sits between crisis and opportunity but is not finished. During the lockdowns occupancy and revenue collapsed, and individual providers went insolvent, such as WorkRepublic in 2020. The pressure stayed high afterwards, because many operators service long leases themselves and could push through price increases only to a limited extent in the slump. Berlin saw early consolidation when the Ahoy! Berlin location closed after its landlord demanded drastically higher terms. With Unicorn it then hit a market-leading provider.

At the same time the sector keeps growing: in top locations demand for flexible offices again exceeds supply, and in central Munich some spaces are almost fully occupied despite prices of 800 to 1,500 euros per workstation. New players are arriving, such as Industrious in the Atrium Tower. Flexible terms and sizes are worth more than rigid contracts in uncertain times, which gives the sector long-term tailwind.

What happens to tenants when a coworking operator goes insolvent?

When a coworking operator becomes insolvent, the situation for users depends above all on whether the location continues or closes. In the Unicorn case most locations were taken over by other operators, so operations carried on for many users under a new flag. As a general rule, your contract initially remains in force, and an insolvency administrator decides on continuation. When a location is handed to a new operator, contacts and sometimes terms often change, but the workspace itself usually stays usable.

It gets harder when a location is given up entirely, because you then need an alternative at short notice. That is why it pays to clarify before signing how long the minimum term runs and how quickly you could switch in an emergency. A short notice period and an economically stable operator are the best protection. For larger contracts, a brief legal look at the termination and insolvency clauses before signing can also be worthwhile.

What should you look for in a flexible office in Berlin now?

After the Unicorn case, what counts is not the lowest price per workstation but the overall economic calculation and the stability of the provider. A cheap rate helps little if the location is back up for grabs shortly after you move in. So before signing, check who runs the location and how economically stable the provider is, how long your contract runs and how quickly you can give notice, what happens to your contract if the operator gives up the location, and whether utilities, internet, cleaning and furnishing are really included.

It also makes sense to compare several office formats instead of booking the first coworking space. Whether a classic lease, a flex office or coworking fits depends on team size, planned period of use and budget. You will find an overview of the real costs in our guide what an office really costs in 2026. As a rule of thumb: the longer the planned use, the more a classic lease pays off, while the flex office plays to its strengths over short and uncertain periods. A neutral comparison across several providers uncovers hidden costs and term traps before you commit.

Conclusion

Unicorn shows how strongly Berlin's office and coworking market has changed. The market is not finished, but the simple boom logic of recent years no longer works everywhere. Companies still want good offices, but with less risk, shorter commitments and more flexibility. Operators, in turn, have to keep their fixed costs under control and run locations on a sound economic footing.

For Berlin that means a more professional and more selective market, where not every provider stays and not every floor works, but well-calculated and flexible offerings are in greater demand than ever. Anyone looking for an office in Berlin today should ask not only where space is free, but which office format truly fits their planning and risk. That is exactly where CoWorking Capital supports you: we compare flexible offices, coworking spaces and business centers neutrally, commission-free for companies searching. You can read how we work on our about page.