Athena Alliance Raises $2.5M in Seed Funding

Impact-Focused Organization for Women Will Expand Education Programs and Leadership Team

Athena Alliance, the leading professional development community for executive and board-ready women, announced it has raised a $2M seed extension which takes total funding to $2.5m in its first 2.5 years of business.

Athena's leadership and board worked with its membership base and Leonas Capital and Advisory to develop a robust and diverse cap table. Having offered ownership participation to its members, Athena is proud to announce that 87% of the cap table are women, 29% are people of color, and 3% LGBTQ+, with broad geographic and industry representation.

Sheila Bangalore, Co-Founding Partner of Leonas Capital and Advisory, commented "Leonas Capital invested in Athena because of its unique model, which offers real-time online learning taught by experts in their field, executive coaching, and a dynamic network, all of which support executives to unlock their full potential. As Leonas Capital, we are proud to be funding an organization that magnifies the impact of these leaders daily."

Global leaders ranging from venture-backed, growth-stage startups to Fortune 50 companies join Athena to access and build relationships with other leaders across the Athena network and to learn from Athena's thought leaders about ideas shaping key business trends and impacting executives globally.

Founded by Coco Brown, recently named one of the 100 Most Powerful People in Silicon Valley by Silicon Valley Business Journal, Athena Alliance is committed to building a modern learning community centered around action and outcomes, which are tied to accelerated and measurable advancement in leadership. To date, Athena Alliance has supported more than 400 women to join corporate boards, including Bose, Dropbox, Zillow, and PNC Bank, among others.

The company will use the funds received to expand Athena's leadership, education, and sales teams, and make further investments in member services, including courses and content. With this investment, Athena also intends to expand its newly launched Athena Academy, a suite of customized career and coaching programs.

Towards these goals, Athena recently hired Erin Essenmacher, an established leader in corporate governance and board leadership, as its Chief Experience and Strategy Officer. With her guidance, Athena recently launched a Board Readiness course and is introducing an Executive Leadership Course this fall. "We launched this community to help women continue to realize their impact, whether it means serving on a corporate board, launching a business, or investing," said Coco Brown, CEO of Athena Alliance. "We're thrilled to continue building out our platform and increasing our highly curated content, while offering a personalized experience to our members."

About Athena Alliance - Unleash Your Impact™
Athena Alliance is a modern learning community and platform for today's top leaders. Athena provides personalized, exclusive access to on-demand learning, one-on-one executive coaching and a mix of virtual and in-person networking for "in the know" executives. Athena caters to modern global leaders who work at a diverse range of organizations, from venture-backed, growth-stage startups to Fortune 50 companies. These leaders join Athena to access a community with rich educational programs taught by other leaders at some of the world's most reputable brands. Learn more at https://athenaalliance.com.

About Leonas Capital & Advisory
Leonas Capital & Advisory is a boutique capital and advisory firm made up of female founders and operators who back female-founded and run companies. Leonas, Spanish for lionesses, embodies the fierce spirit of collaboration that we believe will shift the current capital topography, where less than 3% of investment dollars fund female founders. We're out to change this, together. Learn more at https://leonascapital.com

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