NeueHouse has merged with photography museum Fotografiska following a strategic capital raise of $35million, led by new majority owner Yoram Roth, who values the combined platform at $165million.

The merged organisations are brought together under CultureWorks – a new holding, management and development company that aims to create a global platform for culture, experience and hospitality brands.

“Community matters and culture works,” says Roth. “It is this personal philosophy that drew me to both Fotografiska and NeueHouse, and ultimately their simpatico convergence. Our vision is to incubate, capitalise and partner with brands, entrepreneurs and artists at the vanguard of culture, creativity and commerce.”

Following the recent openings of Fotografiska New York in December 2019 and NeueHouse Bradbury in Downtown Los Angeles in February 2020, the new deal is timed to coincide with NeueHouse’s continued expansion into Venice Beach, Miami, and its first European location at the original Fotografiska Stockholm – all launching in 2021. Fotografiska will also open a new museum outpost in Berlin in 2022. Announcements regarding further North American and European expansion plans will be made in the coming months.

Josh Wyatt, the newly named CEO of CultureWorks, comments: “We are deeply inspired to develop new flagship environments that define the future of the way the creative class will work, meet, create, socialise, discover and gather. The last year has accelerated the innate human need to gather and coalesce around moments of meaningful connection, all within safe, design-driven spaces. Under the CultureWorks brand umbrella, with NeueHouse and Fotografiska as the foundational pillars and the support of Yoram and our investors, we will look to bring intellectually curious and culturally conscious communities back together.”

With more than one million annual visitors and 10,000 members across both brands, the CultureWorks platform launches with an established and robust global footprint. This growth will continue into other US and global cities – targeting architecturally iconic buildings in storied neighbourhoods – at a time when most hospitality and workspace brands are retrenching. In addition to new locations, CultureWorks will also invest in building digital platforms to offer editorial content and interactive experiences for its audiences.

Board Member, Stephanie Horton adds: “We are seeing a pent-up demand for rebuilding community, connecting with like-minded souls and sharing cultural experiences. It is inspiring to see Yoram and Josh envision the future of how society will do this. Now is the perfect time to invest and cultivate the foundations of next-generation brands that understand and anticipate the shifting cultural landscape of tomorrow.”

CultureWorks’ first appointment after Josh Wyatt is Adriana Marianella as Chief Development Officer, brought onboard to run hospitality, design and development for the new company. Marianella joins CultureWorks after spending over a decade as Vice President of Brand Development and Experiential at Standard International, which includes The Standard, Bunkhouse and Peri Hotels. Befitting her start in the industry as Chief of Staff to André Balazs (Chateau Marmont, Chiltern Firehouse, The Mercer and Sunset Beach), Marianella has earned a reputation for creating uniquely compelling hospitality experiences on a global scale.

Fotografiska and NeueHouse have collaborated in the past, including on an artist conversation series in 2019 featuring photographer Ellen von Unwerth at NeueHouse Madison Square, and exhibition pop-ups in 2020 highlighting the work of photographers Andres Serrano and Alison Jackson at NeueHouse Hollywood.

The merger and capital raise process was led by Josh Wyatt and Marcel Reichart, Board Director and Executive Advisor to Yoram Roth, who will focus on further corporate and capital market development. Several notable and long-term existing investors, including MARK platform Revolt Ventures, also contributed to the round.