New investment supports development of platform to foster personal connections

Co-Angler, the first platform dedicated to helping anglers connect and plan fishing trips, today announced a $315,000 investment from the Richard King Mellon Foundation. The funds will be used to accelerate feature development, enhance user experience, support user growth initiatives with a regional-first approach, and expand hiring.

Many anglers prefer to fish with others but unfortunately lack the means to connect with fishing partners. Until now, today’s anglers have had no dedicated platform for connecting, relying instead on scattered Facebook groups, forums, or word of mouth — methods that are often unreliable and disorganized. Co-Angler bridges that gap by helping anglers find one another and, in the process, is fostering a larger, stronger community of people who share a love of fishing and the outdoors, while expanding access to the proven mental health benefits of spending time in nature.

Co-Angler is purpose-built to simplify trip planning, align anglers with similar experience levels, and build trust. For the nearly 60 million anglers in the U.S., Co-Angler creates the blueprint for shared fishing experiences by providing fishing-specific profiles, ratings, and trip facilitation tools designed exclusively to help anglers connect and enjoy time on the water together. Co-Angler also allows anglers to share costs, making fishing more accessible, affordable, and enjoyable.

“Co-Angler is built first and foremost for the recreational angler. The platform is designed with the everyday weekend fisherman in mind, as well as newcomers who want to build skills and confidence on the water,” said Founder John Bledsoe. “At its heart, Co-Angler is about creating a community. Our goal is to create a welcoming space where anglers of all levels can find companionship, share experiences, and open doors that might otherwise feel out of reach. By making trips more affordable and accessible, we’re giving more people the opportunity to enjoy time outdoors.”

Co-Angler is meeting the market’s demand for real-time angler connections with its Trip Alert feature, which automatically notifies users by email whenever a new trip is posted within 100 miles of their location. The impact on the community has been significant: trips that once took days or weeks to fill are now claimed within hours.

Additional platform offerings include the following features:

• Offer a Trip, where users with the means to host— whether it’s an open boat seat or just a bank fishing invite — can post directly to the global feed.
• General Trip Request allows anglers to publish the type of trip or experience they’re looking for.
• Open to Fish, Co-Angler's most recently launched feature, is a simple way to show you’re ready to hit the water. With one click, your profile appears in a searchable, proximity-based list where others can send you a request and start working out trip details in our new private messenger.

By turning individual outings into shared experiences, Co-Angler is also tackling the deeper challenge of isolation in the fishing community. A RBFF Special Report on Fishing found that nearly 1 in 5 Americans participating in recreational fishing, or about 12 million, do so alone. By making it easier to fish together, Co-Angler is supporting mental health, social connection, and a sense of belonging.

“Being outdoors creates a naturally calming environment that helps people destress, and we use that setting as a bridge for human connection.” said Bledsoe. “At its core, Co-Angler isn’t just about fishing; it’s about people. If two anglers connect through our platform, share a trip, and end up forming a lifelong friendship, that’s the greatest reward for me.”

The Richard King Mellon Foundation’s investment in Co-Angler is made through its Social-Impact Investment Program, through which the Foundation invests in for-profit startups with a social mission that aligns with the Foundation’s philanthropic strategy.

To learn more about Co-Angler, visit: https://coangler.com/.

About Co-Angler

Co-Angler is the first platform dedicated to helping anglers connect and plan successful fishing trips. Built specifically for the fishing community, Co-Angler offers tools like fishing-specific profiles, ratings, reviews, and trip facilitation to make it easy to find the right partner and get out on the water. With nearly 60 million anglers in the U.S. alone, Co-Angler is creating the blueprint for shared outdoor experiences by taking the guesswork out of trip planning and putting the focus back where it belongs — on fishing and the human connection.

About Richard King Mellon Foundation

Founded in 1947, the Richard King Mellon Foundation is the largest foundation in Southwestern Pennsylvania, and one of the 50 largest in the world. The Foundation’s 2024 year-end net assets were $3.1 billion, and its Trustees in 2024 disbursed more than $155 million in grants and program-related investments. The Foundation focuses its funding on six primary program areas, delineated in its 2021 – 2030 Strategic Plan.

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