Coachwhisperer receives seven-figure seed investment

The start-up's product enables coaches to communicate better with their athletes. The Thuringians want to be on the market by the World Cup.

Jena-based startup Coachwhisperer has closed a seven-figure seed financing round. Beteiligungsmanagement Thüringen led the round.

Philipp Zacher and Julien Then founded Coachwhisperer in 2021. Zacher had the idea for the product - a communication system that coaches can use to give instructions to athletes on the court - back in 2015. With the help of the sports science faculty at Friedrich Schiller University and an Exist startup grant, the startup developed an in-ear headset in recent years that athletes can wear in their ears during training. The coaches can then communicate with individuals or the entire team via an app. This means athletes don't have to interrupt their workouts as often. The headphones also measure important vital signs such as heart rate and oxygen saturation in the blood.

"With the help of the funding, we will soon be able to bring our technology to market in time for the World Cup," says Coachwhisperer co-founder and CEO Then. "This will lay the foundation for our scaling beyond soccer into other sports."