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GoChallenge closes €500,000 pre-seed round to start the Movement Movement

GoChallenge is proud to announce the successful close of its oversubscribed €500,000 pre-seed funding round. This investment marks a major milestone in the company’s mission to transform workplace culture through movement-based challenges that energise teams, boost engagement, and foster stronger connections – wherever work happens.

Fuelling the next phase of growth, the funding will be used to:

  • Triple the team, with key hires in Product Management, Marketing, and Customer Success
  • Accelerate the product roadmap, delivering inclusive and engaging challenge programmes tailored for modern teams
  • Build brand presence, through targeted go-to-market strategies and sales initiatives

“A huge thanks to our investors and everyone who supported us in this investment round (Enterprise Ireland & our Angel Investors) – whether by making introductions, offering advice (Propelor BIC) or simply cheering us on,” said John Barron, Co-Founder and CEO of GoChallenge.

Co-Founder Dr. Caitriona Mooney added, “We’re fortunate to have a world-class group of investors joining us. Their expertise across HR, elite sports, fintech, and high-growth startups brings tremendous value as we scale GoChallenge globally.”

Conor O’Donovan, Head of Startups at Enterprise Ireland, said: “GoChallenge is an excellent example of a forward-thinking Irish startup that is using innovative technology to address workplace motivation and increase team output, cohesion, and wellbeing. I would like to congratulate the team on its recent investment raise. Enterprise Ireland looks forward to working with Caitríona, John and the team as the company grows and brings its service offering to the next level.”

Traction with top employers

Since launching in 2023, GoChallenge has delivered high-impact team challenges for organisations including Three, Red Hat, Gartner, the IRFU, SIRO, and American Pan – demonstrating a clear demand for inclusive, engaging employee wellbeing solutions.

Meet the investors

GoChallenge is backed by a distinguished group of international investors whose contributions extend well beyond capital:

  • Enterprise Ireland – Ireland’s national agency supporting the global growth of Irish businesses
  • Allison Grace (USA) – Former Chief HR Officer at Discovery Education; named one of the Top 50 HR Executives in the U.S. (2022)
  • John O’Shea (UK) – Former Manchester United player; current Assistant Head Coach of the Republic of Ireland national team
  • Johnny Aitken (Australia) – Former CEO of PointsBet (acquired by MIXI Australia)
  • Alexis Murphy (Belgium) – Former CEO of betFIRST (acquired by Betsson)
  • Sean McNelis (Australia) – Former Global Co-Head of Debt Capital Markets at HSBC
  • Brian Kelly (Ireland) – Former CCO Corporate Care