For an entrepreneur, consultant, or freelancer, one of the biggest overhead costs of running a business is leasing office space. Whether you’re a one-person team or a business with a small staff, a traditional office might not be right for you. Fortunately, Baltimore is home to dozens of co-working spaces with a variety of membership options to fit your needs.

“Being based from a co-working space has undoubtedly helped our business. It provides a collaborative environment with others who have unique skill sets,” said Edwin Winfield, co-founder of Homies, which is based at the Emerging Technology Centers. “If you’re facing a problem with your business, there’s a good chance someone else in the office has experienced it.”

Whether you’re a writer who wants a quiet space but likes to catch up over coffee or a maker who needs access to state-of-the-art tools for fabrication, one of Baltimore’s co-working spaces will have your desired amenities.

The Beehive at Emerging Technology Centers
101 N. Haven St.

The Emerging Technology Center has provided an incubator for companies since the 1990s and launched the Beehive as its co-working hub. In addition to free parking, a coffee, tea and popcorn bar and gym space, members also enjoy monthly happy hours. Individual memberships start at $70 per month and scale to $350 per month for access for 2 to 3 team members and daily unlimited access.

Betamore
101 West Dickman St.

Betamore launched in 2012 as one of the first co-working spaces in Baltimore. Originally at 1111 Light Street, the entrepreneurial hub has expanded and upgraded to 8,000 square feet at City Garage. It offers 34 dedicated co-working spaces and access to coffee, a fridge stocked with local beers, unlimited conference room usage and free parking. Betamore sits at the edge of Port Covington with easy access to 95.

Brewer’s Hill Hub
3700 O’Donnell St., Suite 200

Bridging the gap between incubation and a traditional office? Brewers Hill Hub opened in 2017 in the the former Natty Boh tower and offers spaces from hot desks to multi-purpose suites. Perks include free soda and beer, parking, donuts on Friday and a roof deck with views of the Canton waterfront. Flexible leasing terms range from one month to a year.

Charles Village Exchange
2526 St. Paul St.

If a comfortable Baltimore rowhome is your preferred working space, then Charles Village Exchange may be a fit. A 20-foot-high tower of windows lets in ample natural light and the Exchange is in the middle of restaurants and shops on a tree-lined stretch of St. Paul Street. Memberships start at $275 per month and include lockable storage, a full bathroom with shower and discounted Zipcar memberships.

Co_Lab Workspace
2209 Maryland Ave.

If you’re a fan of biking or running to the office, Co_Lab (located on the Maryland Avenue cycle track) may be the right co-working space for you; part of its 4,000-square-foot space houses a shower and clothing storage. Additional amenities include a lactation room and an on-site bookstore and gift shop. Co_Lab is operated by the architects who designed it and works best for those who prefer a dedicated space.

The Cube
6905 York Rd.

The Cube is Maryland’s first co-working space to offer pay-as-you-go childcare services. Founded by two mothers, the 1,100 square-foot has space for 60 members and includes unique amenities like wine and monthly manicures. Plus, for every three paid memberships, The Cube donates a six-month membership scholarship to a parent who is starting their own business.

The Foundery
101 West Dickman St.

The makerspace at City Garage is outfitted with desks, workstations, 3D printing, laser and fabrication workshops within 19,000 square feet. With complimentary coffee from Zeke’s, hot dogs and popcorn, members are well-fed and caffeinated. Located in West Covington off the bike path that connects the area to Federal Hill and Port Covington, The Foundery has ample free parking. The space offers no memberships; access is only available with day passes and spaces can be rented for projects.

Function Coworking Community
4709 Harford Rd.

Fans of Zeke’s coffee may want to consider Function, the first co-working space in Baltimore’s Hamilton-Lauraville area. Its location in a 100-year-old rehabbed building with an open-air atrium and 1,500 square-foot gallery and performance space is only one block from the beloved brewer. There’s enough space for 50 people with free parking and memberships start at $30. Function will use its space to host community events and members will receive discounts.

Homebase
300 W. Pratt St. and 2002 Clipperpark Rd.

With plans starting at $35 per month, Homebase’s two locations in downtown Baltimore and Clipper Mill provide flexible options for entrepreneurs. Amenities include a lobby concierge, car charging station and locations close to I-95 and I-83 and many local restaurants. Plans start with basic unreserved desk space with 8 a.m.-6 p.m. access and scale to reserved offices for multiple people with additional perks.

Hub Baltimore
217 N. Charles St., 5th floor

Hub Baltimore is unique in that it’s owned by Profiles, the management and recruitment agency, so all members have access to the teams. Private workspaces with exposed brick walls in the city’s central downtown area start at $350 per month and scale to dedicated corporate offices starting at $750 per month. Five parking garages are located within the immediate vicinity and Hub’s location allows for easy access to I-83 and I-95.

Impact Hub
10 E. North Ave.

In 2017, the team at Impact Hub restructured its membership to better align with its mission to advance equity and economic opportunity in Baltimore. The team hosts bi-weekly educational lunches, provides local visual artists opportunities to exhibit work in the space and curates a monthly market with local vendors. The 8,600-square-foot building includes offices, dedicated desks, phone booths and event rental space. Members have access to street parking and the Sweet and Savory Pop-Up Shop.

Johns Hopkins University FastForward
1812 Ashland Ave. and 301 W. 29th St.

Johns Hopkins University has two public co-working spaces; its original is near Johns Hopkins Hospital and the other is above R. House’s food hall in Remington. (Hopkins’ Homewood co-working space is reserved for students.) FastForward 1812 offers 8,000 square feet of co-working, office and lab space, and its R. House location has 9,000 square feet. Both offer legal, accounting and fundraising experts and, for those doing scientific work, access to a lab.

Open Works
1400 Greenmount Ave.

Housed in 34,000 square feet in the Station North Arts and Entertainment District (which allows tax breaks for art- and design-related businesses), Open Works offers 115 co-working spaces ideal for makers and small manufacturers. In addition to lot and street parking, the space includes storage and an on-site coffee shop. Seven staffed workshops provide state-of-the-art equipment, including the Stanley Black & Decker contract services and teaching shop.

Spark
8 Market Place, Suite 300

Located in the heart of downtown Baltimore overlooking Power Plant Live!, Spark’s 70,000-square-foot co-working space offers day passes for non-members as well as dedicated desks, private offices and customized private suites. The list of amenities includes beer, wine, coffee and tea, a lounge and game area, dedicated meditation and a space for nursing mothers, storage, a complimentary fitness center and an on-site garage.

The Startup Nest
1401 Severn St.

Southwest Baltimore’s Pigtown neighborhood got its first co-working and incubation space with the opening of The Startup Nest in 2016. Day passes start at $25 and include on-site parking and scale to dedicated desks at $450 per month with conference room access and discounts on classes and workshops. Private offices are also available and include mentorship from entrepreneurs involved with the community.

With as little as $100, you can own a part of your favorite local company. Thanks to equity crowdfunding, several Baltimore-based startups are turning to user-focused funding options to help accelerate their businesses in exchange for a portion of company ownership.

Traditionally, only accredited investors with greater amassed wealth or income could invest in private companies, but the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act was created in 2012 to increase investment in small businesses after the recession. Patrick Rife and Nicolas China, co-founders of Baltimore-based photo booth and marketing technology company Pixilated, are running their first equity crowdfunding round through June 27.

“It’s imperative to tap into your tribe,” China says. “Our fans shout our praises and help us spread the word, so activating your customer base is crucial. Our customers validate everything that we’re doing.”

Rather than traditional perks of sites like Kickstarter, like early access to products, an individual investor hopes to see the value of their initial investment appreciate. If the company goes public through an IPO or is acquired by a public company, individual investors can see a return. If the company folds, the entire investment is lost.

Rife and China are using Indiegogo’s platform, MicroVentures, and set Pixilated’s investment minimum at $25,000 with a $100 buy-in per investor. (Should the company not reach its minimum, investors’ dollars will be returned.) To date, the largest individual investment is $5,000 and they feel confident that shareholders will see their investment grow. “If you look at our month-over-month growth and track record, you’ll see operators who have the capacity to take dollars and make them more than they should be,” Rife says.

Erin Lord has known the Pixilated founders for years and her investment is her first in equity crowdfunding. “Any company bound for success starts with the people who lead it and the team they grow. [Pixilated’s team is] rock solid, incredibly creative, and roll-up-your-sleeves hard workers,” she says.

Pixilated isn’t the only Baltimore company turning to equity crowdfunding. Single-serve coffee company MoJoe Brewing Co. is currently hosting a round that closes on June 22—the largest investment is $5,000 to develop its patent-pending portable single-serve coffee maker. Polling and analytics app Arbit saw a $15,000 investment from one shareholder and raised $700,000. And Artichoke, a client-management service for appointment-based businesses, received a $5,000 single investment and almost $52,000 in total funds.

“The idea of democratizing access to capital markets and allowing actual subscribers to become investors was very much in line with our core belief in including customers in the process at every stage [of growth],” Artichoke founder Justin Shelby says.

Equity crowdfunding may not be right for an individual and may not be the right funding route for a company. Campaigns have to be built within the structure of the selected platform, which can mean reworking executive summaries, exposing financial records and creating additional collateral. Sharing that level of information means that competitors can also see financial statements.

“You’re putting everything about the company out there for the world to see,” MoJoe Brewing Co. co-founder Joseph Hyman says. “If you don’t strategize the dissemination of your intellectual properly, competitors could use the information or you may breach your rights to intellectual property protection.”

“The risks of equity crowdfunding are the same as angel investing,” Canty Ventures founder Jedd Canty says. (Canty has invested in Baltimore-based startups Hungry Harvest, ReThink Water and Parkofon.) “You should go into every deal thinking there is a 70-80 percent chance you will lose your entire investment.” Canty notes that equity crowdfunding investors may also pay a fee to the funding platform and for the management of the investment.

Despite the risk, Maryland investors are taking interest. To date, 26 percent of Pixilated’s investments have come from Maryland. Nine percent of its investors are Baltimore-based and MoJoe Brewing Co. has seen as much as 10 percent of its investments from Baltimore. Utilizing the platforms also allows for global exposure—Arbit saw investments from England, Dubai, and India.

A Baltimore connection did play a big part in Arbit’s success. When the co-founders of Baltimore-based investment newsletter, Early Investing, recommended the company’s equity crowdfunding to its readers, Arbit saw $200,000 in investments in one day. “Rather than having a few institutional investors, we now have 1,300 people who are supporting the growth of Arbit,” founder Alex Bullington says. Those shareholders own 14 percent of Arbit’s business.

“I think equity crowdfunding works particularly well in Baltimore because there are a lot of entrepreneurial venues like City Garage and Emerging Technology Centers and venture capital and private equity isn’t as prevalent,” Hylete founder Ron Wilson says. (Wilson is the co-founder of Baltimore-based 180s, which was acquired in 2006.) Wilson shares that Hylete’s equity crowdfunding investors spend up to four times as much on products, becoming true ambassadors of the brand.

Rife and China had hoped to see the investment rise more quickly but know that as much as 40 percent of total funds can come in the final week, according to MicroVentures. “We’re scrappy. We’re from a challenging city to build the type of product that we’ve built,” Rife says. “We’re consummate underdogs.”