Your Source for Venture Capital and Private Equity Financings

Venture Capital News: CoachUp Scores $6.7M in Series A

2013-11-21
BOSTON, MA, Nation's leading private coaching company, has raised $6.7 million in its Series A round, co-led by venture capital firms Point Judith Capital and General Catalyst Partners.
CoachUp, the nation's leading private coaching company, has raised $6.7 million in its Series A round, co-led by venture capital firms Point Judith Capital and General Catalyst Partners.

'We are pleased to continue to support CoachUp - we love the marketplace they are building. There's a significant opportunity for CoachUp to connect consumers with fitness professionals,' said David Fialkow, managing director of General Catalyst Partners, both a Seed and Series A investor.

CoachUp helps connect athletes with private coaches, on the web and with iOS and Android applications. Since its seed round a year ago, the company has seen a 642 percent growth in bookings and a 136 percent growth in users. In addition, the team hired key executives to accelerate growth: Gene Shkolnik, former senior vice president of product development at Kayak, joined as the company's CTO, and Isabelle Plante, former head of marketing at Wahanda.com, joined as the company's VP of acquisition.

The funds will be used to further build CoachUp's national brand presence, reach new customers and expand the product offering beyond team sports to include dance, yoga and fitness. In addition, CoachUp is exploring ways to integrate athletic facilities into the mix.

Sean Marsh of Point Judith Capital joins CoachUp's all-star Board of Directors bringing deep e-commerce marketplace expertise.

'I first got to know Jordan and CoachUp as part of Mass Challenge, nearly two years ago, and I have been incredibly impressed with the extraordinary people he has recruited to his company since then. CoachUp is building a platform that serves the passion and need of every athlete to excel at their sport, which is resonating strongly across the consumer web,' said Sean Marsh, co-founder and general partner of Point Judith Capital.

'I am excited to join the tremendous team of consumer Internet pioneers Jordan has assembled on his board. I know we all are looking forward to helping Coachup reach Another Level™.'

Other new investors include Data Point Capital (founded by Scott Savitz, founder and former CEO of Shoebuy.com), Suffolk Equity Partners, (investors in Alex & Ani & Warby Parker), plus angel investors such as Paul English (co-founder & CTO of Kayak.com) and Albert Dobron (managing director at Providence Equity Partners). Current investor Breakaway Ventures (Dennis Baldwin, former CMO of Reebok) also participated in the round.

'This round was a major milestone for CoachUp; confirming our position as a leader in both the coaching industry and sports/fitness tech space. I'm thrilled to welcome our newest board member, Sean Marsh. Powered by an incredible team, this round will continue to support our core mission of helping athletes reach the next level in their training and athletic pursuits,' says Jordan Fliegel, CEO and founder.

About CoachUp

CoachUp is a service that connects athletes with private coaches. We believe that private coaching is the secret to reaching the next level in sports + life. Our mission is to help people change their lives through sports and fitness.

CoachUp hit the ground running in 2012 enlisting the help of incredible investors and advisors including: General Catalyst, Point Judith Capital, Breakaway Innovation Group, Founder Collective, Cam Neely (president of the Boston Bruins), Scott Brown (former US Senator), Scott Griffith (former CEO of Zipcar), Paul English (co-founder & CTO of Kayak.com), Dharmesh Shah (founder and CTO of Hubspot), and Adam Soroca (CPO of Jumptap).

CoachUp's CEO and Founder, Jordan Fliegel, whose life was changed when his father enlisted the help of a private coach to help him improve in basketball as a teenager. Fliegel credits private coaching for his successful academic and basketball career at Bowdoin College, and for his professional basketball career that followed.
(c) by Massinvestor, Inc. For contact info, please check out our about page.
>> Click here for in-depth research on 9,000+ startups and 5,000+ VC investors