Startup profile · funding coverage
Sharp Performance funding, valuation and investors
Coaching platform for first responders and public-safety professionals in high-risk jobs.
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Funding, valuation & investors
Answer-first snapshotLatest funding
Seed
$12M · September 2025
Latest known valuation
Not publicly disclosed
Total disclosed equity funding
$12M
Excludes debt, grants, acquisitions, secondaries, and IPO proceeds.
Current status
private
seed · New York, NY
Investors in latest funding
Lead: Andreessen Horowitz
Overview
Sharp Performance sells a mobile and web coaching platform for law enforcement, firefighters, military, and other public-safety professionals. Coaches share backgrounds in high-risk work — many are former special operators — and deliver one-on-one sessions, guided mental-resilience exercises, and department-wide wellness programs. The company was founded in 2023 in New York by Benjamin Curley and team members from Uber, DoorDash, Flock Safety, Headspace, and Strava. Sharp targets agencies that want confidential, culturally competent support beyond traditional employee-assistance programs. In September 2025, Andreessen Horowitz's American Dynamism team led a $12 million seed round to expand go-to-market, coaching staff, and product engineering.
Why Sharp Performance is interesting
Sharp pairs USSOF veterans and sports psychologists with cops and firefighters — a16z American Dynamism led a $12M seed as departments seek alternatives to generic EAP therapy.
Product & use cases
Sharp Performance is a B2B coaching platform for public-safety and high-risk occupations. Departments subscribe to give personnel access to matched coaches, daily mental-training exercises, and centralized wellness resources. The product runs on mobile and web with confidential sessions outside internal HR chains.
- Department-wide wellness programs for police and fire agencies
- One-on-one resilience coaching after critical incidents
- Daily mental-performance training for operators in high-stress roles
Key facts
- Founded 2023 in New York; team includes alumni from Uber, DoorDash, Flock Safety, Headspace, and Strava (Sharp Performance)
- Seed (Sep 2025): $12M led by a16z American Dynamism with A*, Commonweal Ventures, Formation, SV Angel, Liquid 2 (company announcement)
- Built by U.S. Special Operations veterans and sports psychologists who trained elite operators (Sharp Performance site)
- Customers include Redondo Beach Fire Department leadership endorsements (company LinkedIn, Sep 2025)
Funding history (newest first)
Seed
2025-09 $12MSource: https://www.sharpperformance.com/post/sharp-raises-12m
Investors in our directory
Funds linked from Sharp Performance's profile — open a fund page for stage focus and related deal articles.
Competitive landscape
Edge: Sharp's coaches come from the same high-risk backgrounds as clients — USSOF, fire, and law enforcement — which the company argues drives higher engagement than generic teletherapy or EAP vendors.
Workplace mental-health benefits are crowded, but public-safety buyers often report low EAP utilization because providers do not understand operational stress. Sharp narrows to first responders and military-adjacent roles with peer coaches. Trade-off: smaller TAM than horizontal EAPs, but potentially higher trust and retention within its niche.
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Headspace for Work adjacent
Broad corporate mindfulness; lacks role-specific coaches for tactical professions.
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Spring Health adjacent
Employer mental-health benefit with therapist matching; not built around public-safety culture.
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Magellan Healthcare EAP incumbent
Legacy employee-assistance programs departments already buy; often seen as checkbox compliance.
Notable stories
- Sharp was founded on the thesis that first responders connect more deeply with coaches who share their operational background than with traditional therapists — a positioning echoed by LA-area fire chiefs in the company's funding announcement video (Sharp Performance, Sep 2025).
Industries
Related funding articles
Venture Capital Tracker pieces that cover Sharp Performance's financing or category context.
FAQs about Sharp Performance
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