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Hacker Dojo, a community workspace for tech enthusiasts in Mountain View, is looking to expand its footprint with a second site in Sunnyvale, but is facing some funding constraints to get across the finish line.
Hacker Dojo is running out of room at its current location at 855 Maude Ave. in Mountain View, according to Qi Diaz, the nonprofit’s interim director. The Sunnyvale expansion would provide more collaborative work and learning opportunities, especially as demand for space and events continues to grow, Diaz said.
Hacker Dojo has been working towards finalizing the Sunnyvale lease but is about $77,000 short of hitting its goal. Now it is reaching out to the community with an online fundraising drive.
So far, the nonprofit has raised more than $13,000 to support the expansion. It also received a matching pledge of $30,000 from an anonymous donor, Diaz said.
The nonprofit declined to publicize the Sunnyvale location until the lease is signed, but says in its fundraising drive that the new site would more than double its existing space at a below-market rate price.
The organization would like to move into the Sunnyvale site by the end of April. If the fundraising goal is not met, then they would possibly renegotiate or look for a new place, Diaz said.
Hacker Dojo has long been a community coworking space, with the “community” part put first, according to Eric Hess, the nonprofit’s former executive director who transitioned out of the role last week.
Hacker Dojo got its start in Mountain View about 16 years ago and has moved around from location to location, ending up in Santa Clara before closing down during the pandemic.
The nonprofit reopened more than two years ago at the Maude Avenue location and has been building back its membership base ever since. Prior to the pandemic, Hacker Dojo had around 400 to 500 members. Now it’s at about 150 paying members, Hess said.
It has taken some time to get the organization back on its feet, Hess said. The pandemic drained down the nonprofit’s reserves to nearly nothing, and many people still don’t know that it has reopened, he said.
Even so, there is a dedicated group of tech workers, innovators and entrepreneurs who have been with Hacker Dojo for years and regularly show up to the Mountain View location, despite living in a different city.
“I could go to a coffee shop or a library,” said Nicolas Falliere, a software engineer who has been coming to Hacker Dojo for over a decade and lives in Cupertino. “But here, there are familiar faces, a sense of community,” he said.
Hess described Hacker Dojo as a “third place” for people in tech. They have a home and work and now this, he said. It’s not uncommon to see people grilling food, playing table tennis or participating in a book club. “It’s a place where you can meet colleagues and make lifelong friends,” he said.
The open workspace also facilitates a sense of collaboration, as people can sit together at long tables and swap ideas. There are makerspace rooms and dedicated desk spaces for more permanent setups as well, although these tend to be in short supply.
The space constraint has been the biggest pain point for the organization, Hess said. It’s hard to hold events and not disturb people. “No one wants to be working on a project and see a bunch of kids go running by chasing a robot,” he said.
The problem will hopefully be resolved with the Sunnyvale expansion, which has carved out areas for events and coworking spaces, as well as a lot more conference rooms and dedicated desk spaces. There is a large break room too, Hess said.
The Sunnyvale site is move-in ready, although has a corporate feel to it from the previous locations, Hess said. “Right now, we really want community input for shaping the new space and want to make sure that it’s reflective of the community that’s going to be utilizing that space,” he said.
Hacker Dojo plans to keep the Mountain View location open for at least two more years, until the lease ends.
“We’ll be looking at if we want to maintain two locations, kind of how this two-year experiment has gone. And see what our options are at that point,” Hess said.