CoachUp

CoachUp
Industry Private sports coaching
Founded 2011 (2011)
Headquarters Boston, MA, USA
Area served
 Nationwide in the US
Key people
 John Kelley (CEO)
Jordan Fliegel (President/Founder)
Services Connects athletes with private coaches
Number of employees
 24
Website www.CoachUp.com

CoachUp is a venture-funded startup company that connects athletes with private coaches.[1][2]

History

CoachUp was founded in 2011 by former professional basketball player Jordan Fliegel with engineers Arian Radmand and Gabe Durazo. Its site, CoachUp.com, officially launched on May 9, 2012. The firm is headquartered in Boston.[3]

In November 2012, the firm raised a $2.2 million seed round led by venture capital firms General Catalyst Partners and Breakaway Innovation Group. Along with the two VC firms, angel investors including Dharmesh Shah, Ty Danco and Walt Winshall also took part in the funding. In November 2013, it raised a Series A round, this time co-led by Point Judith Capital and General Catalyst Partners. Other investors joining this round were Datapoint Capital, Suffolk Equity Partners, Breakaway, as well as angel investors Paul English and Albert Dobron of Providence Equity Partners. In January 2015, it was announced that former The Princeton Review Chief Marketing Officer John Kelley was appointed as CoachUp's new CEO.[4]

Recognition and partnerships

In 2011, the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council awarded CoachUp a Golden Ticket to become a member of the CriticalMass entrepreneur community.[5] In March 2012, Jordan Fliegel took 1st Place at the Microsoft Ultra Light Startup pitch competition in Cambridge, MA.[6] Shortly after its launch, CoachUp was selected to participate in the MassChallenge 2012 Accelerator Program[7] and was later announced as $50k Gold Winner. Concurrently, the firm joined TechStars Boston as a member of the Fall 2012 class.[8] On October 25, 2012, HubSpot CTO and founder Dharmesh Shah invested in CoachUp.[9] On February 22, 2013, CoachUp was named a finalist in the Sports & Fitness category of BostInno‘s “50 ON FIRE” Awards.[10]

CoachUp is the official private coaching partner of the Positive Coaching Alliance.[11] the company launched an annual scholarship program for student athletes in June 2013.[12]

Athlete Advisory Council

CoachUp established their Athlete Advisory Council in early 2014 with the purpose of partnering with current and former professional athletes to improve and develop connections between athletes and coaches. It was announced in May 2014 that Philadelphia 76ers Center Nerlens Noel joined the Athlete Advisory Council. Soon after, Cam Neely, president of the Boston Bruins became its second member. In September 2014, CoachUp announced that New England Patriots Wide Receiver Julian Edelman joined the Athlete Advisory Council by releasing a short video of Edelman reading his 2009 NFL Draft scouting report.[13]

References

  1. ↑ "CoachUp scores a $2.2M Series A from General Catalyst". PandoDaily. 14 November 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
  2. ↑ Clark, Patrick (15 July 2013). "Connecting Tomorrow's All-Stars With Private Coaches". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
  3. ↑ "CoachUp Launches to Connect Athletes with Private Coaches". BetaKit. 9 May 2012. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
  4. ↑ Castellanos, Sara (8 January 2015). "Former Princeton Review exec is now CoachUp's new CEO". Boston Business Journal. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  5. ↑ "Welcoming CoachUp to CriticalMass!". 29 November 2011. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
  6. ↑ Van Sack, Jessica (23 March 2012). "Pitches to VCs heat up; Startups compete". Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  7. ↑ "MassChallenge Announces Final 26 Startups for 2012". Retrieved 14 June 2012.
  8. ↑ Kirsner, Scott (23 August 2012). "TechStars Boston announces startups accepted into its fall 2012 class". boston.com. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
  9. ↑ Kirsner, Scott (25 October 2012). "Investor panel at FutureM conference puts $442,000 into five startups: Timbre, NBD Nanotechnologies, Jebbit, CoachUp, and Sidewalk". boston.com. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
  10. ↑ "Introducing the 50 on Fire Finalists For Dining & Retail, Sports & Fitness and Arts & Entertainment". Bostinno. Retrieved 22 February 2013.
  11. ↑ "Trusted Resources of the Positive Coaching Alliance". Positive Coaching. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
  12. ↑ "CoachUp Announces 3 Annual Scholarships to Help Student-Athletes Advance to College". BostInno. 10 June 2013. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
  13. ↑ "Patriots' Julian Edelman Works Hard to Prove Pre-Draft Scouting Reports Wrong". 16 October 2014. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
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