We are excited to announce that Matchstick Ventures Fund III has completed an investment in Kahilla. Kahilla is a digital platform providing equitable access to coaching and community for women in the corporate world.

Historically, women have had fewer opportunities for corporate advancement than men. Whether intentional or unintentional, women have had less access to opportunities to grow in their careers, professional training opportunities and dedicated support to advance their careers. 

Fortunately the times are changing and corporations now understand the need and benefits of a more diverse workforce and especially opportunities for diverse employees to rise in their organizations. This has created an exponential increase in the demand and need for scalable, effective, and equitable leadership development training. Over the past two years, the combination of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic insecurity, and racial injustice has accelerated these demands. 

Unfortunately, the majority of current programs focus their efforts on the most senior executives and are cost-prohibitive, leaving a lack of opportunity for the rest of the organization to grow and develop their skills. They also don’t scale well even though there are thousands of employees craving opportunities to grow.

Companies are also recognizing the value of diverse executive teams. Organizations that achieve this goal are 33 percent more likely to have above-average profits, and, during the pandemic, companies where women held more than 30 percent of board seats outperformed their peers in 11 of 15 sectors. Companies where at least 30 percent of seats were held by non-white directors saw four percent year-over-year revenue growth. 

Kahilla is an innovative digital platform providing equitable access to leadership development. Created for women by women, Kahilla combines best-in-class coaching and content with the power of community to help those in the middle of an organization accelerate in their careers or get ‘unstuck’. 

Kahilla makes it possible for women to connect with other female leaders across their community, not just at their own company. Discussion boards give members a safe space to privately discuss their growth and goals, and participants also have direct access to coaches who can guide them through particular situations. Thanks to its digital platform, Kahilla is easily scalable and available to all the managers at a business, not just C-suite executives. 

Despite the recent Great Resignation, Kahilla’s corporate partners are already seeing success with the program. In their year-end survey of members, 81 percent of respondents said that Kahilla has made them more likely to continue working with their company. Kahilla also reported that 47 percent of member survey respondents experienced growth in their role and/or an increase in their pay and compensation in 2021. 

Kahilla’s founders, Kim Havens and Noa Ries, are both repeat successful entrepreneurs and have been personally passionate about this space throughout their careers. That passion shone through when they contacted Matchstick Ventures through a cold email and more than convinced us they were worthy of support.