AI Learning Platform Owners Complete Sale to Leadership Enterprise Torch
In a significant move, leadership and coaching enterprise Torch has announced the acquisition of Praxis Labs, an immersive learning platform specialising in AI-powered leadership development. The financial details of the deal remain undisclosed.
Founded in 2019, Praxis Labs has made waves in the industry, securing a $15 million Series A round in 2021, making Elise Smith, one of the few Black women to raise more than $1 million in venture capital funding. Notable investors include Emerson Collective, Steph Curry's fund Penny Jar Capital, Precursor Ventures, and Ulu Ventures.
The combined entity promises a more tailored and dynamic approach to leadership development. With Torch's contextual coaching platform, directly linking leadership growth to business outcomes, and Praxis Labs' AI learning capabilities—practice simulations, AI coaching, and skill assessments—the merged platform offers a comprehensive solution.
Heather Conklin, CEO of Torch, emphasises the strategic synergy between the two companies. "Coaching is a strategic lever," she says, "connecting human behaviour to business results through a blend of relational human coaching and scalable AI intelligence." Praxis Labs' AI tools enhance Torch's coaching by enabling leaders to practice skills between sessions and providing continuous feedback shaped by business context.
The combined platform aims to close the strategy-execution gap, a major industry challenge where $60 billion is spent annually on leadership development with limited transformation success. Praxis Labs’ AI-driven practice simulations and assessments feed real-time insights into Torch’s feedback loops, revealing cultural barriers and execution gaps to inform targeted interventions.
Moreover, the merged platform is poised to foster inclusive and equitable workplaces. Praxis Labs has a strong track record working with major companies like Amazon, Target, Google, and eBay to build more equitable, inclusive workplace cultures via leadership training. Integrating this expertise within Torch’s coaching platform amplifies the ability to build leadership capacity that supports diversity and inclusion as part of organisational change.
The acquisition also promises to scale learning and leadership readiness. Through Praxis Labs’ AI scalability and Torch’s dynamic coaching, the merged platform can future-proof workforces by helping leaders acquire essential skills faster and adapting their behaviours in alignment with business goals and evolving market demands, including AI integration and disruption readiness.
Elise Smith, co-founder of Praxis Labs, will join Torch as Head of AI Growth, while Heather Shen, co-founder of Praxis Labs, will take on the role of Head of AI Product. The Praxis Labs team will also join Torch as part of the acquisition.
Smith states, "Combining the capabilities of Torch and Praxis Labs delivers a powerful value loop that pairs contextual coaching, AI practice simulations, coaching, and assessments." This approach, she adds, is a smarter, more dynamic way to drive meaningful change at scale.
This acquisition creates a powerful, AI-enhanced coaching ecosystem that elevates leadership development from isolated individual growth to a strategic organisational intelligence system, linking inclusive skill-building directly to business results and cultural transformation. This positions the combined entity to fundamentally improve leadership agility and workplace inclusion at scale.
- Elise Smith, one of the few Black women to raise more than $1 million in venture capital funding, co-founded Praxis Labs, which secured a $15 million Series A round in 2021.
- The acquisition of Praxis Labs by Torch, a leadership and coaching enterprise, promises a more tailored and dynamic approach to leadership development, combining Torch's contextual coaching platform with Praxis Labs' AI learning capabilities.
- Heather Conklin, CEO of Torch, states that the strategic synergy between the two companies connects human behaviour to business results through a blend of human coaching and scalable AI intelligence.
- The merged platform, consisting of Torch and Praxis Labs, aims to close the strategy-execution gap by providing AI-driven practice simulations, assessments, and continuous feedback to inform targeted interventions, future-proof workforces, and foster inclusive and equitable workplaces.
