AceUp Secures $22.5 Million in Series A to Bring Hyper-Personalized, AI-Powered Coaching for Team Transformation

By Business Wire On Sep 12, 2024

The funding will accelerate technology innovation as the company continues to transform workplace coaching with AI-powered, prescriptive talent analytics and team-centric solutions that democratize leadership coaching for all while driving specific, measurable business outcomes

AceUp, the AI-powered Team Transformation Engine, announced a $22.5M Series A. The round was led by PJC, Techstars Ventures, Gaingels Ventures, Water Bear Ventures and Launchpad Venture Group.

AceUp announced a $22.5M Series A that will accelerate tech innovation as the company continues to transform workplace coaching with AI-powered, prescriptive talent analytics and team-centric solutions.

AceUp is on a mission to take the guesswork out of talent analytics and unleash individuals’ and teams’ potential to lead change within organizations, their communities, and the world with the AI-powered, human-centered Team Transformation Engine®. By leveraging AI and data, AceUp’s Team Transformation Engine® provides actionable talent insights through prescriptive analytics. The platform helps teams at all levels understand existing gaps in alignment, skill mastery and performance, and encourages managers and team leaders to be change agents to design upskilling and talent development strategies directly tied to specific business outcomes at the team and organizational level.

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Today’s companies are faced with defining the hybrid work environment alongside rapid AI transformation, unveiling a new set of work challenges to be solved. It’s no longer enough to solely look at engagement and individual performance across the workforce. There is a growing need to consider connection, or rather the disconnection felt by employees, as only 23% feel connected to their organization’s culture. AceUp’s Team Transformation Engine® fosters connection within and across teams, equipping organizations with data insights to drive end-to-end team performance at scale.

“As the pace of disruption continues to accelerate post-pandemic, marked by unprecedented restructuring, hybrid work challenges, and the AI revolution, executives increasingly recognize the need to transform ‘me’ cultures into ‘we’ cultures,” said Will Guillaume Foussier, CEO and co-founder of AceUp, and alumni of Harvard University and École Hôtelière de Lausanne. “This transformation hinges on upskilling managers to become effective Team Coaches, driving connection, alignment, collaboration and performance at every level of the organization. As a category leader in Team Transformation at Scale and a global player in digital coaching, we specialize in helping teams and organizations, or ‘team of teams’, all over the world come together, lead the AI revolution, and thrive in the new world of work.”

Rohit Begani, CTO and co-founder of AceUp, said, “At AceUp, we’ve pioneered systemic change with our Team Transformation Engine, the first global AI-powered, data-backed solution for building high-performance teams at scale. Our Series A will fuel our next leap: deploying equitable, context-driven coaching using GenAI and machine learning, all while maintaining our focus on data-centricity and advanced analytics to support every step of the coaching journey for individuals and teams.”

AceUp’s platform supports over 50 global enterprises, including Teradyne, NTT Data, LVMH, L’Oreal, and Veolia. Today, AceUp combines 1-on-1 leadership coaching, systemic team coaching, and AI-powered talent analytics to foster a coaching culture that drives measurable business outcomes. Within six months of implementation, AceUp’s clients experienced an average 61% increase in team engagement and performance, with 88% of respondents reporting that receiving AceUp coaching significantly enhanced their engagement and loyalty to their company.

Michelle Randall-Berry, Global Head of Talent at Teradyne, said: “We began our partnership with AceUp several years ago, and when I joined in 2022, I saw the company’s impact on Teradyne’s employees. Since then, we’ve not only expanded the number of seats but have also seen increased adoption of the AceUp platform across all of our business units. What truly stands out about AceUp is its commitment to crafting tailored solutions that meet our company’s unique needs and its exceptional ability to improve our workforce’s performance. Beyond that, AceUp’s support team has shown unparalleled dedication to our team from the outset of our partnership.”

Linda Hill, Professor and Faculty Chair of the Leadership Initiative at Harvard Business School and founding partner of Paradox Strategies, said, “Leaders are ‘made,’ not born; great leaders learn, adapt, and grow to become better versions of themselves. AceUp helps individuals, teams, and entire organizations to transform through a data-informed approach to coaching. The scalability of their technology is redefining coaching in the modern workplace.”

The infusion of capital will allow AceUp to continue scaling to meet global enterprise-level demand and innovate alongside the ambitious technology product roadmap already underway. The company has its sights on ways to further democratize the coaching and learning experience to create more equitable, innovative, and high-performing workplaces.

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