France-based startup Kotcha, an AI-powered running coaching app, has raised €3.5 million to make high-quality coaching accessible to all runners. The round was led by Racine² (operated by Serena and makesense), with participation from TrueGlobal, Motier Ventures, and other consumer, health, running, and sports investors.
Kotcha uses AI to recreate the athlete–coach relationship, delivering adaptive, personalised training guidance at scale.
Race demand is rising rapidly, with the London Marathon receiving more than 1.1 million entries for 2026, which is twice as many as in 2024. Despite this growing interest, access to personalised coaching remains limited. Many runners still choose between generic apps that cost around €20 per month and human coaches who charge about €100 per month.
Kotcha aims to close this gap by offering an AI coaching team that adapts in real time to each runner’s needs.
Founded by marathon legend Eliud Kipchoge, Ben Dupont (CEO), Michel-André Chirita (CTO), Dimitri Dor (CMO), and the NN Running Team, Kotcha is built on the belief that running is a team sport and no one should run alone. The three tech founders worked closely with Kipchoge and his team to embed that philosophy in the product.
Running is a team sport. Without my coaches and teammates, I would never have pushed human limits. With Kotcha, we wanted to share not just the training structure but the full support system that made it possible,
says Eliud Kipchoge.
Most running apps restrict athletes to fixed 12 or 16-week training plans. Kotcha takes a different approach by recreating the experience of a real coaching staff with four AI coaches: a Head Coach, Nutritionist, Data Analyst, and Personal Trainer, each trained in NN Running Team methods. Tested with more than 300 runners, Kotcha provides a reliable and adaptive experience for athletes of all levels.
AI often lacks the context to meet runners’ expectations. Kotcha is designed to understand each runner’s goals, training load, and patterns, so guidance feels like it comes from a coach who truly knows you,
shares Ben Dupont.
The vision shows up in everyday features. Each Sunday, Kotcha reviews recent data and feedback to plan the week ahead, automatically adjusting for missed sessions. Before and after each run, it provides briefings and debriefs. Runners can ask questions about training, nutrition, or recovery at any time and get immediate answers.
This pre-seed round will support Kotcha’s launch and help bring its vision to life in Europe and beyond.
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