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.
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;…
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