Alexi Robichaux is the co-founder and CEO of BetterUp, an online platform that provides performance coaching and skill development services for employees and managers. It is being used by Fortune 500 companies.
Early life and education
Alexi Robichaux was born on September 19, 1985, and lives in San Francisco, California. Robichaux earned a BA degree in political science, public and non-profit management from the University of Southern California with Summa Cum Laude in 2007. Robichaux was also associated with Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi.
Early career
Alexi Robichaux first worked as Business Insight and Improvement Planner at The Walt Disney Company in April 2008. After over a year at working at Walt Disney, Robichaux served as a partner and Chief Financial Officer at The Glenroe Group, a management consulting firm advising leading companies in private equity, venture capital, entertainment and technology industries. Robichaux served the company for over a year.
In October 2010, Robichaux became a Product Manager at Socialcast, which later acquired by VMware in May 2011. After the acquisition, Robichaux became the Director of Product Management at VMware, where he headed the design and product teams in developing enterprise collaboration software that made Gartner’s best in class distinction. While at VMware, Robichaux experienced first-hand how the relationship between employers and employees required to grow to maintain the innovation-driven work of the future.
BetterUp
In April 2013, Alexi Robichaux and Eddie Medina, who’s also a University of Southern California graduate, co-founded BetterUp, a mobile-based coaching platform that delivers personalized professional coaching to employees at all levels. As CEO, Robichaux directs BetterUp on its mission to empower all professionals to live with bigger purpose, passion, and clarity.
Based in San Francisco, BetterUp unites employees with specialized, administrative-level coaching, with members engaging their mentors for 30-minute sessions weekly over phone or video-chat. Between meetings, mentors give employees exercises and activities, along with resources such as podcasts, videos, and readings to assist their professional development, while on-demand support is also accessible by text.
Through the platform, BetterUp produces analytics to follow progress across areas such as leadership effectiveness, productivity, and happiness. The company claims to have already taken some well-known clients during its stealth phase, including Capital One, Logitech, and Deloitte.
In April 2018, BetterUp and Watermark, Silicon Valley’s leading community of senior and emerging women executives and entrepreneurs, partnered to promote the representation of women in leadership. In May 2019, BetterUp and Mars, family-owned global pet care, food business, and confectionery, partnered to enhance performance, purpose and belonging for leaders worldwide.
Funding rounds
In January 2016, BetterUp raised $2.9 million in a seed round of funding from Afore Capita, Allison Bhusri, Julia Popowitz, and Ulu Ventures. In November 2016, BetterUp raised $12.9 million in a Series A round of funding, from its lead investor Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ), and other investors include Vista Venture Partners, Social Capital, SV Angel, Freestyle Capital, and Crosslink Capital.
In March 2018, BetterUp raised $26 million in a Series B round of funding, led by Lightspeed Venture Partners with existing investors include Freestyle Capital, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and Crosslink Capital. BetterUp plans to manage the funds to employ developers and salespeople, as well as continue to increase operations globally.
In June 2019, BetterUp raised $103 million in a Series C round of funding, led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from Threshold Ventures (formerly DFJ Venture), Freestyle Capital, Tenaya Capital, Crosslink Capital, and Silicon Valley Bank.
The latest funding round considered to be the largest ever in the burgeoning field of behavior change, tech-enabled employee coaching, and wellness underscores faith in BetterUp, which was first to run in this space and which is now quickly being deployed by leading multinational, global organizations, including Symantec, Airbnb, Logitech, Mars, Equinix, Instacart, and Workday. BetterUp has more than 100 enterprise customers and tripled growth in 2018 for the second consecutive year.
BetterUp has raised a total of $144.8 million in its rounds of funding. BetterUp is funded by 15 investors.
Volunteering experience
Robichaux is currently a Chairman of Youth Leadership America (YLA), a non-profit organization he co-founded in 2003 that promotes peer-to-peer leadership development, and civic engagement in high school students. Under Robichaux’s leadership, Youth Leadership America has collaborated with leading companies including Google, Disney, and Hilton Hotels, to mentor and coach future leaders.