Female-led AI Learning Platform Praxis Labs has Been Acquired by Torch

News

Published by Stephen Oluwadara at July 11, 2025

How Praxis Labs Has Operated So Far

Praxis Labs was launched in 2019 by Elise Smith and Heather Shen. The AI learning platform builds critical human skills at scale with research-backed practice simulations, AI coaching, and skills assessments.

At its height, the startup worked with companies such as eBay, Zoom, Amazon, Google, and Target to build out more equitable and inclusive workplaces through leadership training and skill assessments.

The platform notably secured a $15 million Series A back in 2021, making Smith one of the few Black women at the time to raise more than $1 million in venture capital funding. Investors in that round included Emerson Collective, Steph Curry’s fund Penny Jar Capital, Precursor Ventures, and Ulu Ventures.

“As a small company with fewer than 20 people serving companies as large as Amazon, we knew we needed to build powerful partnerships, across product and go-to-market, to reach more companies,” co-founder and CEO of Praxis Labs, Smith, told TechCrunch about the reason for the sale.

She and her co-founder, Shen, had met Torch CEO Heather Conklin as they were both already working in the leadership development space. The acquisition addresses a critical market failure. Organizations spend over $60 billion annually on leadership development, yet the vast majority of transformation initiatives still fail due to the gap between strategy and execution.

“We were immediately struck, not just by our shared values and mission, but also by how we aligned on what was needed to really future-proof the next general workforce,” Smith continued. “There was a clear connection and opportunity to connect Torch’s contextual coaching and organizational insights with Praxis’ AI coaching, practice, and skill assessments.”

What The Acquisition Means for Both Companies

Traditional coaching often focuses on individual growth without linking it to the broader organizational goals. Torch has redefined coaching for business impact with a dynamic feedback loop that connects individual development directly to a company’s strategic priorities. This generates continuous insights into change readiness, cultural barriers, and execution gaps.

With Praxis integrated, this feedback loop becomes even more potent, allowing business context to inform coaching conversations, leaders to practice new skills between sessions, and insights to flow back, revealing progress drivers and obstacles. The outcome is a real-time view of organizational health, enabling Torch to guide customers through targeted interventions that address emerging barriers.

“With always-on AI coaching and skills practice, Praxis has rich data about individual leaders’ unique skillsets and development needs—whether it’s stalled decision-making or unclear ownership,” Heather Shen, co-founder of Praxis Labs, said.

“Alongside Torch’s organizational insights, we can pinpoint where support will have the most impact and tailor development to both individual needs and business priorities. It’s a smarter, more dynamic way to drive meaningful change at scale.”

Both Praxis Labs co-founders, Elise Smith and Heather Shen, are taking on new leadership roles at Torch. Elise Smith will serve as Head of AI Growth, while Heather Shen will lead as Head of AI Product. The Praxis team is joining Torch to accelerate the development of their AI product roadmap, enhance capabilities, and amplify impact.

Main Image: Praxis Labs Co-founders, Elise Smith (right) and Heather Shen (left). Image Credit: UrbanGeekz