Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Fearless Fund scores a legal win, Coty plans to list on the Paris Stock Exchange, and Alexis Ohanian’s venture capital firm invests in a coaching platform that supports Angel City and the NBA. Have a marvelous Thursday!
– Good coaching. Anita Hossain Choudhry cofounded the Grand in 2019 to help make coaching—the kinds top business executives receive—more accessible and more lasting. After a 2020 pandemic pivot, the Grand built a virtual platform for group coaching that allows participants to return to their coaching insights once sessions are over. “Coaching can be so ephemeral,” says Hossain Choudhry. “You have this incredible conversation, but a lot of times, it’s fleeting.”
The startup’s idea resonated with investors and two organizations that know the value of good coaching: the women’s soccer team Angel City FC and the NBA. Angel City tapped the Grand earlier this year to provide leadership coaching for players and staff; the NBA’s player development business mentorship program will soon begin using the platform to coach players figuring out “who they are and what value they bring to the world beyond the sport.”
And, Fortune is the first to report, Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian’s venture capital firm Seven Seven Six is leading the Grand’s $4.7 million seed funding round, returning after a $2.4 million pre-seed in May 2021. Ohanian views coaching that addresses the whole person—rather than solely professional goals—as an increasingly important component of business. “Emotional intelligence and genuine human connection are critical as complementary skills in the age of AI,” he said in a statement.
Anita Hossain Choudhry and Rei Wang, cofounders of coaching platform the Grand. Courtesy of The Grand Hossain Choudhry, 38, is an executive coach herself. A former head of knowledge for First Round Capital, she’s now based in Milwaukee after years in New York and the Bay Area; her cofounder is the Grand’s chief product officer Rei Wang. Hossain Choudhry regards personal and professional coaching as a tool to address major societal problems, like the loneliness epidemic, especially for remote workers.
The platform has about 1,000 members, mostly ages 25 to 40 in the U.S. and internationally. Its programs, which include live virtual coaching sessions, peer groups, and a dashboard to track personal progress, cost around $3,000 per person per year. With this seed funding, the startup sees the opportunity to reach more people at an organizational level—like it’s doing with ACFC (partly owned by Ohanian) and the NBA—rather than the individual level.
“The picture I want to paint is that no one will have to walk alone,” Hossain Choudhry says. “They will feel seen and understand how to use their strengths to become the best version of themselves.”
Emma Hinchliffe
[email protected]
@_emmahinchliffe
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