The Riveter CEO Amy Nelson accepts ‘Startup of the Year’ honors at the 2019 GeekWire Awards. (GeekWire Photo / Kevin Lisota)

Since launching in Seattle two years ago, The Riveter has been steadily opening new female-focused co-working spaces in cities around the country. Now, the startup is expanding into a new area altogether: politics.

This week, the Seattle company launched The Riveter 2020: We Decide. The goal is to host “every presidential candidate who supports women and equity” at one of The Riveter’s locations. We Decide will also include resources for The Riveter’s community, focused on two core issues: voting rights and reproductive justice.

We Decide kicks off Tuesday with Mayor Pete Buttigieg at The Showbox in Seattle. Later this summer, The Riveter plans to host Senators Kamala Harris and Kirsten Gillibrand.

The Buttigieg event is sold out and closed to the press. Funds from ticket sales will go to Buttigieg’s campaign, according to the ticket sale page.

“While we are not endorsing a specific candidate, we are proud to invite every presidential candidate who supports women and equity to The Riveter to engage them on key issues that affect us,” said The Riveter CEO Amy Nelson.

Earlier this year, The Riveter kicked off its national expansion with a new facility in Austin, Texas. The Riveter has coworking spaces in seven cities across the country and big ambitions to grow. In late 2018, the company closed a $15 million funding round and established a new goal: 100 co-working spaces by 2022.

Gillibrand will speak at The Riveter’s Los Angeles location Aug. 28 and in Austin on Sept. 26. Harris is scheduled to appear at the L.A. location on Aug. 5. The Riveter hosted Cory Booker and Andrew Yang earlier this year.

“This is just the beginning,” Nelson said. “Over the next year, we will continue to leverage our platform so that women and our allies have full access to information, resources, community and the candidates that represent us (or seek to) and can make informed decisions at the polls and beyond.”

The Riveter, which won the Startup of the Year category at the 2019 GeekWire Awards, generates revenue from membership fees that range from $99 per month for floating desk space to $750 a month for a private office at the original Capitol Hill location in Seattle. There are also community memberships for those that don’t need regular office access and “business plans” targeted at corporations.

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