RALEIGH – SoleLife, an  AI-powered tele-coaching system for independent certified coaches and their clients, will join the Techstars Iowa Accelerator class of 2020.

Techstars Iowa is a 12-week mentorship-driven accelerator program based in Des Moines, Iowa, dedicated to helping startups reach greater success.

In addition to a $120,000 investment and more than $500,000 in perks, SoleLife will have access to mentors, investors, corporate leaders, and experts from Iowa and across the globe. Researchers and professors from Grinnell College, University of Iowa, and Iowa State University will also provide mentorship.

Acceptance into the program is an achievement in itself, with hundreds applying and only 1% accepted into the accelerator program.

“One of the biggest advantages of Techstars is access to a vast network of support and subject-matter expertise in the areas of digitization, innovation, and strategy,” said Craig Martin, SoleLife CTO, in a statement.

“The support we have already received from the Techstars Managing Director, Kerty Levy and the team, has been exceptional,” added Jason Faber, SoleLife CMO.

“We are really excited to be a Techstars portfolio company and its global platform for investment and innovation. With their network and support, SoleLife is looking to successfully disrupt the coaching market,” said Nichole Lowe, founder and CEO of SoleLife in its announcement. “The coaching industry is in desperate need of innovation with nearly 82% of independent coaches going out of business within the first two years.”

She noted: “The biggest constraint for coaches in scaling their business is the cost structure and disparate technologies. To eliminate these constraints, SoleLife is on a mission to shift this paradigm by producing the most powerful AI-driven workflow automation ecosystem on the market.”

Faber tells WRAL TechWire that he and the other two members of the company leadership team, Lowe, Martin, will attend the workshop. They are the company’s fulltime employees, although it also relies on three or four contractors.

The company has managed the COVID crisis well,” Faber said.

“Being a Raleigh-based start-up, we’ve had our challenges, but we’ve been fortunate that as a tech company we can rely on web-based tools to ensure that communication and development progress. We were able to pull together in June for a week, practice social distancing, gell together as a team, and then proceed to work virtually as we have been. The pandemic hasn’t hindered us as much. If anything it has put wind in our sails, since virtual 1-on-1 meetings and video conferencing is a major component of our AI platform.”

 

SoleLife plans to be a one-stop shop for coaches to grow their business