Skillest
Skillest is an online two-sided marketplace that connects golfers with 800+ elite coaches for asynchronous, video-based remote instruction. The platform, available via web and mobile apps, has served 300,000+ students across 900,000+ lessons, with adjacent expansion into baseball, basketball, cricket, and swimming.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2017
- HeadquartersMelbourne, Australia
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingDigital Commerce or Content
What Skillest does
Skillest operates an online two-sided marketplace connecting golfers (and increasingly athletes in other sports) with elite coaches for remote, video-based instruction. The core platform, accessible via web (skillest.com) and native iOS and Android applications, allows students to submit swing videos and receive asynchronous video analysis, annotated feedback, and personalized drill prescriptions from coaches. The marketplace currently lists 800+ elite golf coaches — including PGA Tour coaches Cameron McCormick (Jordan Spieth's coach) and Sean Foley (former Tiger Woods coach) — supported by 165,000+ coach ratings and reviews that function as discovery and trust signals for prospective students.
The business model is primarily transaction-based: students purchase individual lessons or lesson packages directly from coaches, with prices observed ranging from $57.50 to $125 per session. Skillest monetizes via marketplace transaction fees and offers complementary monetization through pre-packaged "Courses" content with subscription/recurring elements, as well as in-app purchases through mobile storefronts. Payments are processed through Stripe, accepting Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and In-App Purchase. Distribution is product-led and self-serve, augmented by SEO-optimized location-specific landing pages (100+ cities) and earned media coverage in the New York Times, Bloomberg, Golf Digest, Golf.com, and Sports Business Journal.
Operationally, Skillest is a lean organization with 1-10 employees, incorporated in California as Skillest, Inc. with a registered office in San Francisco and an operational footprint tied to Melbourne, Australia. The company has raised only $50,000 in disclosed seed funding (July 2018) from Forum Ventures, Hyphen Capital, and Right Side Capital Management, yet reports 300,000+ student accounts and 900,000+ lessons completed cumulatively. Leadership comprises Brian Park (CEO), Alan Gao (Co-founder and CTO), and Baden Schaff (Co-founder and President). The platform also lists dedicated pages for Baseball, Basketball, Cricket, and Swimming, indicating an emerging multi-sport expansion strategy.
Skillest firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Skillest
- Legal name
- Skillest, Inc.
- Website
- https://skillest.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2017
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Skillest is an online two-sided marketplace that connects golfers with 800+ elite coaches for asynchronous, video-based remote instruction. The platform, available via web and mobile apps, has served 300,000+ students across 900,000+ lessons, with adjacent expansion into baseball, basketball, cricket, and swimming.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Skillest industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Online Golf Coaching Marketplace
- NAICS
- Sports and Recreation Instruction (611620), Sports and Recreation Instruction (61162)
- SIC
- Services-Educational Services (8200)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Performance Analysis & Video Coaching (HSADAEAG)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Sport-Specific Skills Coaching (e.g., soccer, basketball, tennis) (HSADAEAA), Golf Training Aids & Swing Analytics Retail (CRAMAGAG)
Keywords
Where Skillest is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Melbourne
- HQ country
- Australia
- HQ region
- Oceania
Offices1 record
Markets served
Skillest business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Digital Commerce or Content
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Operations
Revenue model
- Individual Lesson Purchases: Students purchase individual lessons or lesson packages from coaches at varying price points. Each coach sets their own pricing (e.g., $57.50-$102.35 per lesson observed). Students send swing videos and receive detailed video analysis with personalized drills.
- Subscription/Membership: Platform offers Courses (pre-packaged learning content) in addition to live coaching. Students can purchase course content. Some coaches offer recurring lesson plans.
- In-App Purchases: Mobile application supports in-app purchases for lessons and content. Accepts Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and In App Purchase payment methods.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Single Swing Analysis with Terry Rowles |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Single Swing Analysis with Leslie Cloots |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Single Lesson with Bryce Cope |
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Free Consultation Options |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels7 records
Skillest product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Skillest operates an online marketplace that connects individual golfers with elite golf coaches worldwide for asynchronous, video-based lessons. Through the Skillest website and mobile apps (iOS, Android), students submit swing videos and receive annotated video analysis, customized drill prescriptions, and ongoing on-demand feedback from their selected coach. Coaches set their own per-lesson pricing, manage their profiles with ratings/reviews/sample lessons, and Skillest monetizes via transaction fees plus revenue from Courses (pre-packaged learning content) and recurring lesson plans.
Product overview
Skillest is a sports coaching platform serving as a marketplace that connects golfers with elite coaches worldwide. The core product is the Skillest Platform (web and mobile app) which enables remote video-based coaching. Students submit swing videos through the mobile app and receive personalized video analysis and feedback from coaches. The platform also offers add-on purchase options including Single Swing Analysis (one-time video analysis) and Free Consultation (introductory Zoom call). The platform emphasizes convenience with on-demand coach availability and asynchronous lesson delivery.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Skillest Platform (web) Online marketplace platform (web) connecting individual golfers with elite golf coaches for personalized, asynchronous video-based lessons, swing analysis, and ongoing feedback. Students browse coach profiles, view ratings/reviews/sample lessons, submit swing videos, and receive annotated analysis with drills.
- Skillest Mobile App (iOS and Android) Native iOS and Android applications that enable golfers to communicate with coaches, submit swing videos, receive video lessons and feedback, purchase lesson packages, and access Course content on mobile devices.
- Online Golf Lessons (marketplace transactions) Remote video-based coaching sessions where students submit swing videos and receive personalized analysis, custom drills, and ongoing feedback from elite golf coaches on the Skillest marketplace; coaches set per-lesson pricing ($57.50 to $125 observed).
- Single Swing Analysis One-time purchased video analysis of a golfer's swing using Skillest's analytical tool, delivering detailed video feedback and drill prescriptions from a chosen coach (e.g., Leslie Cloots at $102.35, Terry Rowles at $57.50, Bryce Cope at $125).
- Skillest Courses Pre-packaged, self-paced learning content (Courses) available for purchase through the Skillest platform, covering golf instruction topics, complementing the live one-on-one coaching marketplace.
Quantifiable outcome
- Students report dropping 5 strokes from their handicap within three months
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Skillest
Customer profileNamed customers6 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Skillest technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration6 records
AI capability4 records
Feature4 records
Skillest partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and key.
- Apple App StorecoreSkillest mobile application distributed through Apple's iOS App Store, enabling direct access for iPhone and iPad users to the golf coaching platform
- Google Play StorecoreSkillest mobile application distributed through Google Play Store for Android devices, enabling direct access for Android users to the golf coaching platform
- StripecorePayment processor handling credit card transactions. All payment data is stored by Stripe per privacy policy.
- Major Tour Players (Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth, Cam Smith)keyMajor champions Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth, and Cam Smith have worked with Skillest coaches (Sean Foley coached Tiger Woods, Cameron McCormick coaches Jordan Spieth), lending significant credibility to the platform's coach quality
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Skillest competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- SwingU: SwingU combines a golf scorecard/GPS app with lessons and swing-analysis features. It competes for the same amateur golfer's attention between freemium app-based tools and paid instruction, a key substitution risk for Skillest.
- SkillShark: SkillShark is a coaching-evaluation and athlete-development platform used by sports organizations and academies. While team-skewed rather than individual golfers, it shows the broader 'sports-coaching platform' competitive frame Skillest operates in.
- Arccos Golf: Arccos offers AI-powered shot-tracking and a virtual caddie, increasingly adding instructional and coaching content layers. It is an emerging player that overlaps Skillest's on-course improvement mission, with adjacent computer-vision / data-analytics capabilities.
- BodiTrak / Sportsbox AI: Sportsbox AI uses computer vision for 3D motion analysis across multiple sports including golf. It is an emerging player in the AI-driven coaching analytics space that could complement or compete with Skillest's video-analysis workflow.
Direct peers
- V1 Sports: V1 Sports is a long-standing video swing-analysis and remote coaching platform used by PGA coaches. It is the most direct functional peer to Skillest, offering swing-video capture, analysis, and coach delivery — overlapping the same core workflow.
- CoachUp: CoachUp is a marketplace for private coaches across many sports. While multi-sport rather than golf-only, it shares the same two-sided marketplace + local-coach-discovery model, addressing some of the same purchase decisions for athletes (or their parents).
Broad incumbents
- GOLFTEC: GOLFTEC is the largest US-based chain of indoor golf-instruction bays, combining coach-led lessons with launch-monitor analytics. It is the dominant offline competitor to Skillest's remote video coaching model, serving the same 'serious amateur golfer' segment.
- Golf Digest Schools / Top 100 Teachers directory: Golf Digest's editorial platform and directory of Top 100 Teachers functions as an alternative-discovery channel for serious golfers seeking elite instructors. It is a content-led incumbent that competes for the same student mindshare that Skillest captures via its coach profiles.
- TrackMan: TrackMan provides launch-monitor hardware and a golf-performance software ecosystem used by coaches, club fitters, and players. Its analytics depth and tour-coach adoption overlap Skillest's elite-coach positioning, even though TrackMon is hardware-centric.
Regional players
- Jim McLean Golf School: Jim McLean Golf School is a high-profile in-person golf instruction brand with physical school locations. It represents the premium in-person alternative to Skillest's remote coaching, particularly for destination-school segments.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Skillest social profiles
Digital presenceSkillest financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Skillest leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
Skillest funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors3 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Skillest M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Skillest
What does Skillest do?
Skillest operates an online marketplace that connects individual golfers with elite golf coaches worldwide for asynchronous, video-based lessons. Through the Skillest website and mobile apps (iOS, Android), students submit swing videos and receive annotated video analysis, customized drill prescriptions, and ongoing on-demand feedback from their selected coach. Coaches set their own per-lesson pricing, manage their profiles with ratings/reviews/sample lessons, and Skillest monetizes via transaction fees plus revenue from Courses (pre-packaged learning content) and recurring lesson plans.
Is Skillest a public or private company?
Skillest is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Skillest founded?
Skillest was founded in 2017. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Skillest based?
Skillest is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, in the Oceania region.
How does Skillest make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Individual Lesson Purchases are the primary driver. The others are subscription/Membership and in-App Purchases.
Who are Skillest's main competitors?
Emerging players on record are SwingU, SkillShark, Arccos Golf and BodiTrak / Sportsbox AI. Direct peers are V1 Sports and CoachUp. Broad incumbents are GOLFTEC, Golf Digest Schools / Top 100 Teachers directory and TrackMan. Jim McLean Golf School is listed as a regional player.
Does Skillest have an API?
No public API is recorded for Skillest.
What industry is Skillest in?
Skillest's product category is Online Golf Coaching Marketplace. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HSADAEAG, Performance Analysis & Video Coaching, with a secondary code of HSADAEAA, Sport-Specific Skills Coaching (e.g., soccer, basketball, tennis). Its NAICS code is 611620 and its SIC code is 8200.