Elatra, a California based digital coaching platform for tech businesses, raised $200K in funding. In conjunction with the announcement, CEO Natasha Drogolchuk replied to our questions about herself, the company and its solutio, the funding, and future plans.
FinSMEs: Hi Natasha, can you tell us a bit more about yourself? What’s your background?
My background is actually in sales and sales team management in the tech industry. I spent over 9 years in B2B sales, mainly with SaaS products, where I helped enterprises choose and use these solutions. As I gained experience, I moved up to managing sales teams.
Working in sales management, I saw how quickly startups grow and the struggle to grow their teams just as fast. That’s where the idea for Elatra came in. Recognizing this, I decided to move to the US. I felt it was the right place to develop a tech startup and the perfect spot to start building our Elatra platform.
As a founder now, my sales and management background is a huge asset. I use my skills in negotiation and presenting our product to different people, like our team, clients, and investors, every day. This foundation in sales is key to effectively sharing our vision and showing how valuable our product is in the market.
FinSMEs: Let’s speak about Elatra. What is the market problem you want to solve? What is the real opportunity?
At Elatra, our team, all with tech backgrounds, noticed a critical trend in the tech industry: tech companies grow rapidly, but often their employees don’t keep pace. From my experience in sales and team management, I’ve seen the disconnect between rapid company growth and individual development.
Recognizing the power of coaching in supporting employee career growth, we saw a gap: there weren’t specialized coaching solutions for the tech sector. Elatra fills this gap, offering tailored coaching to help align the growth of individuals with that of their companies. We’re committed to bridging this disparity, ensuring that both the company and its people grow harmoniously for overall success.
FinSMEs: What are the features differentiating the product from competitors?
Elatra stands out because we’ve tailored our coaching tool specifically for the tech industry, addressing its unique needs and challenges. What sets us apart is that all of Elatra’s coaches have hands-on experience in the tech sector. They bring firsthand understanding of the challenges and opportunities faced by professionals in the tech industry. We’re a solution born out of the tech industry itself, designed by people who’ve been there and understand it. It’s this blend of tech insight and coaching expertise that makes Elatra a unique and effective tool for tech companies looking to foster growth in their teams.
FinSMEs: You just raised a new funding round. Please, tell us more about it.
We have completed the pre-seed funding round raising $200K from angel investors. The money is to accelerate product development and further strengthen go-to-market capability.
Thanks to the investment, we aim to enhance user experience for the organizations, their people and coaches, providing them with additional intuitive and personalized tools and insights.
We intend to offer solutions that not only meet the current market needs, but also anticipate future trends in corporate learning and development programs.
FinSMEs: Can you share some numbers and achievements of the business?
Absolutely! Since we started Elatra in May, our progress has been solid and consistent. Within eight months, we’ve drawn the attention of big tech companies, who are now not only our clients but active users, giving us really useful feedback. Our growth is reflected in tangible metrics: the number of coaching sessions last month was 3 times higher than in previous months, and our team of coaches has doubled in size. We now have a diverse user base and coaches spread across Europe, the US, Asia, and Africa, showing our global reach and appeal.
FinSMEs: What are your medium-term plans?
We’ll focus on refining the user interface and creating new analytical features to measure people’s competences and engagement, so that our clients can manage the coaching process easier and measure its full impact. We will also enrich integration of the platform into the companies’ systems, enabling them to effectively manage, track, and scale their existing internal coaching programs.
FinSMEs
14/12/2023