Edufii Inc., the social/mobile platform for skill development, today announced that it has raised $1.4 million in Series A financing led by DFJ Frontier and the Pasadena Angels. Also participating in the round was the Gideon Hixon Fund, Tech Coast Angels, SLO Seed Ventures and coaching industry private investors including Tiger Woods first Coach, Rudy Duran.
In conjunction with this financing, Frank Foster, Managing Director of DFJ Frontier, has joined the Board of Directors. 'Edufii represents a new paradigm for skill development using social media and mobile technology to connect coaches and teachers with their students,' said Foster. 'DFJ Frontier is excited to lead the investment into this fast growing platform that is being adopted worldwide by the top coaches, athletes and organizations.'
'We are extremely proud to have DFJ Frontier and Frank Foster join the Edufii team,' said Spencer Dennis, Edufii CEO & Co-Founder. 'DFJ Frontier brings deep experience and a track record of success in both sports and media platforms. The teams combined expertise, global network and passion for revolutionizing skill development comes at the perfect time in our growth.'
Edufii also added Mike Pugh to its Board of Directors. Pugh, currently the VP Marketing at cloud innovator j2 Global, brings 25 years of technology marketing strategy and execution to the Board. 'I'm a believer in Edufii's Train without Limits concept, its universal appeal across verticals and geographies, and the high value of its scalable network model.'
Edufii's cloud platform and free mobile apps are used by thousands of top Coaches and Athletes in more than 50 countries. It is being adopted as the platform of choice by respected coaches, teams, and organizations across a growing number of sports and activities.
Owner of Competitive Athlete Training Zone (CATZ), Jim Liston, said, 'From a business standpoint, Edufii enables us to meaningfully engage with our trainers, therapists and clients to improve training, injury prevention and client retention all in one place. Liston, who is a co-founder of the now 12 location high-end athletic training gym, also stated, 'We are thrilled to be rolling out Edufii to our staff and thousands of clients across the country.'
Top PGA Golf Coach Martin Chuck said, 'I started out creating Edufii golf TrainingSpaces for my private students, and now Edufii is the core communication and training platform for me, my team of coaches, and every golf student who attends our schools.' Chuck, who is also the owner of Tour Striker Golf Academy and Training Products, added, 'I'm delivering more value to my audience and increasing my sales.'
Fitness Consultant for MLB teams and President/Owner of Yoga For Golfers (YFG), Katherine Roberts, says, 'Edufii is clearly paving the path for connected training opportunities in the digital age. What started out as excitement to give my certified instructors and their clients better care, has become a complete transformation for our new YFG ONSITE! business model in terms of fully-engaged communication, training, and skill development. Roberts, also a Nike Swoosh Elite Athlete/Advisory Staff member, stated, 'The potential Edufii brings to YFG and the industry is enormous.'
About Edufii
Headquartered in San Luis Obispo, California, Edufii Inc. is fundamentally changing the efficiency and accessibility of skill development with its cloud based platform. The free Edufii mobile apps allow coaches, teachers and their athletes to easily capture key moments during a coaching session using their mobile phone or tablet. Its intuitive interface enables video, voice notes, photos or files to be sent to the cloud to create a familiar social media timeline. Athletes can also invite additional members into their networks, such as parents or other Coaches, to further support collaboration and accountability. The result is a real-time, actionable training journal- the TrainingSpace. It is like a combination of Facebook, YouTube, Dropbox, and video analysis, purpose built for developing skills. It delivers a focused training hub for Athletes and saves Coaches hours a day managing media and messages across platforms. For more information, please visit http://www.edufii.com.
About DFJ Frontier
With offices in Los Angeles, Portland, Sacramento, and Santa Barbara, DFJ Frontier invests in seed and early stage technology companies on the West Coast. They are part of the DFJ Network, the most active venture capital organization on the planet. With offices in over 30 cities around the globe, the DFJ Network has over $5 billion under management to fund extraordinary entrepreneurs.
DFJ Frontier backs passionate entrepreneurs and provides business assistance, not just capital. They typically lead the first round of investment, taking a significant stake in the company and an active role on the Board of Directors. DFJ Frontier continues to invest in subsequent rounds and help arrange financing from other institutional investors, supporting our companies as they move toward self-sufficiency and liquidity.
About Pasadena Angels
Pasadena Angels are Southern California's most respected and connected group of accredited investors. They have the capital, expertise and network to help entrepreneurs turn great ideas into great companies. The Pasadena Angels is a nonprofit entity founded in 2000 that offers early-stage start-up ventures the opportunity to benefit from the knowledge and expertise of more than 100 investor members that includes successful entrepreneurs, technologists, sales and marketing professionals, internet technology leaders, finance specialists and attorneys. Pasadena Angel members partner with fledgling companies and provide them with invaluable counsel, including insights into developing business and financing strategies that are both achievable and fundable. Barry Paulk, member of the Pasadena Angels Board of directors, led Edufii's financing for the group.