Inc. Magazine has named a Milwaukee-based businesswoman to its sixth-annual Female Founders 250 list, recognizing women making moves in the entrepreneurial world.
Anita Hossain Choudhry, co-founder and CEO of leadership coaching platform The Grand, was named to this year's list, along with fellow co-founder Rei Wang, who is in Los Angeles.
The 2024 list is Inc.'s sixth annual ranking of women entrepreneurs who are making significant waves in business. Editors of Inc. review thousands of applications each year for the list and find standout businesswomen who've overcome challenges and made an impact on their community.
To be eligible for the list, an applicant must be a woman founder of a for-profit, independent business with headquarters in the United States. Thousands of women entered, and the applications were judged across three rounds by both Inc. staff and a panel of alumnae from the Female Founders program.
Judges looked at metrics like revenue, sales, revenue growth and audience size, as well as qualitative metrics like social media momentum and stories of impact.
In listing Hossain Choudhry and Wang to the Female Founders 250, Inc. said it was, "For tailoring executive coaching to team needs and securing funding from names like Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian."
Fortune magazine has described The Grand, established in February 2020, as "a virtual platform for group coaching." After raising $2.4 million in a pre-seed round in 2021, the firm launched a $4.7 million funding round in 2023, with both rounds led by SevenSevenSix, the venture capital firm founded by Ohanian, according to Fortune.
The 2023 round followed The Grand's landing of a partnership with Angel City Football Club, a National Women's Soccer League team in Los Angeles, that made The Grand the team’s Official Leadership Coaching Partner and Supporting Level Partner, according to a press release from the team.
Under the partnership, The Grand will offer group coaching to Angel City players, staff and non-profit partners.
Both Inc. and Fortune report Hossain Choudhry's home base as Milwaukee, while her LinkedIn page says she's in the Milwaukee area. The Grand co-founder Wang was also listed by Inc. as in Milwaukee, but her LinkedIn page says she's in Los Angeles.
