Digital coaching platform CoachHub plans to further expand in the Asia Pacific and other regions of the world after raising a $200 million Series C. The round, led by Sofina and Softbank Vision Fund 2, comes just 8 months after the startup’s last funding announcement. Other participants included returning investors Molten Ventures, Silicon Valley Bank/SVB Capital, HV Capital, Signals Venture Capital and Speedinvest. CoachHub has now raised a total of $330 million.
Yannis Niebelschuetz co-founded CoachHub with his brother Matti in 2018. The company entered APAC a year ago, with its regional headquarters in Singapore.
The platform currently has more than 3,500 business coaches who are spread across 90 countries, covering all time zones. It has worked with more than 500 companies, including Coca-Cola, Danone, Toyota, LVMH, L’Oréal, Credit Suisse and Twitter. One of the reasons CoachHub is able to scale is because it uses artificial intelligence–based tech to match employees with coaches.
Part of the funding will be used to increase CoachHub’s headcount from 850 to 1,000 by the end of this year. The company currently has 50 employees in Asia and will continue hiring as it expands in the region.
CoachHub monetizes on a “per person per month” basis, instead of session per session, which Niebelschuetz told TechCrunch gives companies more flexibility when using their services.
“It is also why our clients now engage with us in multi-year contracts,” he added. “They see the value in bringing in a large part of their workforce into digital coaching, not just for a specific moment in time but on an ongoing basis.”
An example of the kind of service that CoachHub offers includes coaching for first-time managers. “It is a fact that soft skills are a must to progress in a career and improving on these can make a massive difference to the manager and team’s performance,” Niebelschuetz said.
Coaches can also emotionally support employees. “The pandemic has put a spotlight on employee engagement, mental well-being and retention,” said Niebelschuetz. The “Great Resignation” underscores how burned out many employees are feeling and why emotional support is an important part of retention. “Investing in employee well-being dramatically improves their mental health, reduces stress and can bring meaning and purpose to their work.”
There are other digital coaching platforms like Sharpist and BetterUp, but Niebelschuetz said, “we do not compare ourselves to anyone else and we know that the largest competition is the status quo — the ‘old way’ of doing people development.”
CoachHub differentiates with its international coverage; its platform is available in 14 languages and its coaches can speak a total of 60 languages. Niebelschuetz said CoachHub also focuses on research and development teams, which include behavioral scientists.
In Asia, CoachHub is prioritizing expansion in Southeast Asia, particularly Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, followed by Thailand and the Philippines.
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