Modibodi’s Kirsty Chong backs Matched, a business and life coaching platform by former Linktree execs

A goal matching platform that helps you find and build your community of advisors to help you succeed in work and life has raised nearly $500,000 in an angel round from high-profile female founders and LaunchVic’s Alice Anderson fund.

Matched, cofounded by Jessica Box and Susan Hion-Jarvis, was backed by Modibodi founder Kristy Chong and Bree Johnson, cofounder of frank body and Willow & Blake, as well as angel syndicate FB10x adVentures.

It matches people with paid trainers and advisors, based on shared interests, to help reach goals such as a new role, industry transition, or running a faster half marathon.

Box met her cofounder when she was MD of Girls in Tech Australia and the duo went on to work together leading growth and product at Linktree as it grew into a unicorn.

The created Matched to close the knowledge gap between who you know and where you want to go, offering expertise in a range of styles, from 1:1 sessions, to groups and content, to help people achieve their next personal and/or professional goal.

Box, the CEO, describes it as a “virtuous circle” of reciprocal learning for all involved.

“I’m thrilled to have a group of investors who are as passionate about the Matched vision as we are – they’ve lived it,” she said.

Matched

“At a time when Gen Z are exploring portfolio careers as creators and less concerned with a 9-5 we want to create a new type of coaching and training  economy through our platform.

“To instigate this we are not designating individuals as a learner or trainer only, which increases growth in learning from others while also mastering your own training skills.”

Free sessions launch

To kick things off they’re offering 100 free 1:1 sessions with the 30 “trainers” from the startup and tech sector as part of the launch, including Kic cofounder Laura Henshaw, Smiling Mind Janey Martino, Culture Amp’s Rod Hamilton and former Disney Channel CMO Richard Loomis.

LaunchVic CEO Dr Kate Cornick said the Alice Anderson Fund was thrilled to add Matched to its portfolio of women-led startups.

“We’re so excited to see talent from Victorian unicorns like Linktree using growth lessons to found their own ventures,” she said.

“We look forward to backing Jess and Susan in their next steps, and hope the Matched platform will open doors for future entrepreneurs.”

Kristy Chong, who sold Modibodi for $140 million two years ago, she knew firsthand how important having access to advisors was to the success of her “leakproof” apparel startup.

“It changed the trajectory of Modibodi from just a small business into a large, global legacy brand,” she said.

“But finding those advisors was not easy, I was time poor so I couldn’t attend physical networking events, and without a warm introduction it made it so hard to ask experts for advice.

“The data shows that having access to advisors increases the business knowledge of female founders and leaders, and it also builds their confidence. This is why I love Matched, for those seeking to learn it offers a space where at any stage of your business or life journey, you can get matched to credible, verified trainers-advisors without the warm intros, and it is providing an opportunity for people with knowledge-expertise to more easily share that with a pipeline of interested learners. Matched is truly a win-win for everyone.”

Fellow investor Bree Johnson said her mantra is never stop learning.

“Over the years I’ve always invested in upskilling for myself and my team. And I’ve witnessed how much this investment can change the way people learn and grow,” she said.

“As a startup founder I’ve found finding the right advisors challenging as my (and my team’s) needs are very specific. Personally I love learning from people that have done it before and I’ve never been shy about reaching out to people for advice but that isn’t always easy- cold emailing is scary and often you don’t get a reply.

“Matched is the solution I’ve been looking for. It breaks down the barriers for people wanting to learn and makes it easy for experts to share their knowledge.”

Chong and Johnson are also among the trainer/advisors you can team up with on Matched. For more on Matched and to sign up and score one of the free 1:1 training sessions, head to matched.community.