A New Era for Digital Coaching

The world of coaching has continued to evolve over the years, with digital coaching standing out as the most efficient approach.  The Covid-19 pandemic has only amplified this need, as we are witnessing a huge digital shift with more people online than ever before whilst disruption and uncertainty prompts reflection and development of many workers across various industries.

To keep up with the market’s fast growth, CoachHub has raised a further $80million in Series B2 funding, increasing total Series B capital to $110m. Draper Esprit, RTP Global, HV Capital, Signals Venture Capital, Partech, and Speedinvest were all part of this latest round, bringing the total funds raised to $130m since 2019. During 2020 CoachHub raised $30 million in Series B round, also led by Draper Esprit, alongside existing investors HV Capital, Partech, Speedinvest, signals Venture Capital and RTP Global. This funding will support CoachHub’s steep growth trajectory as the market continues its global expansion.

CoachHub, which uses AI to match individuals to business coaches, has seen significant growth since it was founded in 2018 by brothers Yannis and Matti Niebelschuetz. Over the short number of years since the company launched, the team has created a global network of more than 3,000 certified business coaches across 70 countries across six continents, with sessions available in over 60 languages, making CoachHub the fastest growing European company in this sector.  During the first half of 2021 CoachHub even tripled its number of employees, and added some of the biggest, foremost global brands to its stable of clients including Fujitsu, Electrolux, Babbel, ViacomCBS and KPMG.

The Market

Now more than ever there is a need for leadership training and personal development with the traditional workplace environment having changed so dramatically. Some companies continue to work from home, with their team spread out all over the globe, with others starting to navigate their way back into the office, creating a real need for a new collection of goals and a clear vision to be set.  One of the benefits of CoachHub’s digital platform is that it’s scalable.  It’s a turnkey solution to scale to thousands of employees effortlessly and regardless of time zone or location.

The digital coaching market is expanding rapidly and experiencing global growth. Traditionally, online coaching has been used for corporate growth, but we are now seeing an ongoing trend which focuses on personal growth, which has created a demand for digital career coaching. The use of technology makes it easy for entrepreneurs to enhance their skills and knowledge remotely, enabling them to create scalable coaching solutions.  The International Coach Federation (ICF), a professional coaching platform, has defined coaching as “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential”.

Importantly, coaching is not only a tool for individuals, managers and leaders are also using this to improve their company’s culture, internally and externally. Developing a coaching culture in the workplace puts the company in a better position to look after fresh talent and grow. Interestingly, 51% of companies with a strong coaching culture report higher revenue than their industry peer group.

Coaching Lab

With the additional funding, the team at CoachHub has remained focused on developing its new Coaching Lab, which uses machine learning technology and business intelligence to drive behavioral research and development in the field of coaching.  The Coaching Lab will be led by the recently appointed Jonathan Passmore, who’s joined the company as Senior Vice President of Coaching. Jonathan is one of the top ten professional coaches in the world.  He brings a wealth of experience with decades of scientific knowledge, a global expert network, as well as a deep understanding of the international coaching landscape to the Coaching Lab.

The Coaching Lab team of global expert researchers gathers insights on human behavior and develops exclusive content for CoachHub’s learning library in accordance with developments in the field, tailored to the unique challenges faced by clients based on their geographic region. Members of the Coaching Lab include some of the leading European professors, psychologists, coaches, researchers and learning experts, and partners include leading institutions, such as the British Psychological Society, Henley Business School and Harvard Business Publishing.

Investor Information

About Draper Esprit

Draper Esprit is a global venture capital firm that invests in high-growth European technology companies. It is listed on the AIM market (GROW) and the ESM segment of the Irish Stock Exchange.

Draper Esprit invests in high growth technology companies with global ambitions. One of the most active VC firms in Europe by capital deployed, the firm has completed 125 deals since 2006, invests approx. $160m per year and now has a market cap of over $1 billion USD.

Draper Esprit’s portfolio of privately-owned tech companies is worth over $940m, and includes well-known tech brands such as Trustpilot, Wise (formally Transferwise) and Revolut, as well as the next generation of Europe’s global champions like UiPath, Graphcore and ICEYE.

Founded in 2006 as Esprit Capital, the company rebranded as Draper Esprit in 2015 as the main European hub, after joining a network set up by the Silicon Valley investor Tim Draper. The firm has offices in London and Dublin, and is part of the Draper Venture Network, a global community of 24 independent funds.

About HV Capital

HV Capital has been investing in internet and technology companies through various generations of funds since 2000, and is one of the most successful early-stage and growth investors in Europe. HV Capital has invested in more than 200 companies including Zalando, Delivery Hero, FlixMobility and Scalable Capital. The managed and advised assets of all HV funds amount to $1.9 billion. HV Capital supports start-ups with capital between $580,000 and $58 million, making it one of the few venture capitalists in Europe which are able to finance start-ups at all growth phases.

About Partech

With a portfolio of almost 180 companies spread across 30 countries in Europe, the US, Africa, and Asia, Partech has been one of the leading international investors helping visionary founders for almost 40 years. The Partech team – made up of both former entrepreneurs and executives from 15 different countries – brings capital, experience, strategic support, and networks to entrepreneurs at every stage of development: seed, venture, and growth. With over $1.7B under management, Partech invests from $230K to $58M in B2B and B2C technologies reshaping industries. Companies backed by Partech have completed more than 21 IPOs and more than 50 strategic M&A transactions valued over $100M.

About RTP Global

RTP Global is a Venture Capital firm focused on early-stage technology investments. It supports young companies from various industries with strategic know-how and a broad global network. RTP Global has invested in 90 companies founded in more than 10 countries across Europe, Asia and North America. Five early-stage investments became multi-billion public companies: Yandex, EPAM, Delivery Hero, RingCentral, and Datadog.

RTP Global was founded in 2000 under the name ru-Net by serial entrepreneur Leonid Boguslavsky, who has a PhD in Computer Science. He developed one of the first IT integration companies in Russia, which he subsequently sold to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

RTP Global has offices in New York, Moscow and Bangalore.

About Speedinvest

Speedinvest is a European venture capital fund with $450M+ AUM and more than 40 investment professionals working from Berlin, London, Munich, Paris, Vienna and San Francisco. Employing a sector-focused investment structure, we fund innovative early-stage technology startups in the areas of Fintech, Digital Health, Consumer Tech, Network Effects, Deep Tech and Industrial Tech. Speedinvest actively deploys its global network and dedicated team of in-house operational experts to support our 170+ portfolio companies, including with US market expansion.

About signals Venture Capital

signals Venture Capital is a financially oriented $100 million venture capital fund, backed by one of Germany’s leading insurance companies. The team invests in promising, sector-agnostic, scalable tech solutions with the potential to accelerate or disrupt the transformation of entire industries. signals Venture Capital focuses on B2B business models in Seed and Series A stages in Europe, especially enterprise technology. The portfolio companies benefit not only from classic venture capital support, but also from the extensive signals ecosystem, comprising renowned German and European partners, industry experts and diverse distribution channels.

About CoachHub

CoachHub is the leading global talent development platform that enables organizations to create a personalized, measurable and scalable coaching program for the entire workforce, regardless of department and seniority level. By doing so, organizations are able to reap a multitude of benefits, including increased employee engagement, higher levels of productivity, improved job performance and increased retention. CoachHub’s global pool of coaches is comprised of over 3000 certified business coaches in 70 countries across six continents with coaching sessions available in over 60 languages, to serve more than 500 clients. Our programs are based on advanced R&D from our Coaching Lab, led by Prof. Jonathan Passmore and our Scientific Board. CoachHub is backed by leading tech investors, including Draper Esprit, Holtzbrinck Ventures, Partech, RTP Global, Signals Venture Capital and Speedinvest. In September 2021, CoachHub acquired French digital coaching pioneer MoovOne to build a global champion focused on jointly democratizing coaching.