Five Years to the World Stage: Welcoming Grace Castonguay
Clavana is proud to welcome Grace Castonguay to the team. A Team USA biathlete who rose through World Cup and World Championships finishes within five years, Grace brings structured discipline, analytical clarity, and international high-performance experience into buy-side origination at Clavana.
Five Years to World Stage: Welcoming Grace Castonguay
Clavana is proud to welcome Grace Castonguay, Team USA professional biathlete, to the Origination Team under the Clavana Elite Athlete Program.
Grace’s journey into elite biathlon is anything but conventional. She did not step onto Nordic skis until the age of 18, but within five years, she progressed from beginner to World Cup competitor - a trajectory that speaks not only to talent, but to discipline, curiosity, and structured ambition.
Today, she competes internationally across the IBU Cup and World Cup circuits while building toward future Olympic cycles, representing one of the fastest development pathways in U.S. biathlon.
A Rapid Ascent Through Elite Competition
Originally a competitive runner, Grace transitioned into Nordic skiing after injury redirected her athletic path. What began as experimentation quickly became pursuit.
Within a short period, she:
Qualified for her first Senior IBU Cup at age 21
Competed at the Junior World Championships (Kazakhstan, 2023)
Made her World Cup debut at age 22
Made her World Championships debut at age 23 (Lenzerheide, 2025)
Placed 26th at the IBU Cup in Lake Placid (12.5km Individual), shooting an international-best 18/20
Alongside international racing, Grace completed a B.A. in Economics with a minor in Accounting at Saint Michael’s College, where she balanced NCAA Division I Nordic competition with international biathlon travel - a logistical and performance juggling act few athletes manage successfully.
Her rise reflects deliberate progression: learning quickly, absorbing feedback, and improving year on year within increasingly competitive fields.
A Performance Mindset for Long-Term Outcomes
Biathlon demands a rare combination of endurance and control. Athletes transition from maximal ski intensity to precise rifle shooting within seconds, requiring not only physical capacity but emotional regulation and technical discipline under pressure.
Grace’s progression reflects a structured and deliberate approach to improvement. She builds performance around defined checkpoints, rigorous self-review, and continuous refinement - adjusting methodically rather than reacting impulsively. That discipline enabled her to move from novice skier to international competitor within just five years. Her background in economics reinforces this mindset: decisions are intentional, progress is measured, and adjustments are informed by analysis rather than emotion.
Like buy-side origination, elite sport operates in cycles. Long preparation phases precede brief moments of execution, and progress often compounds quietly before it becomes visible. Effective founder engagement follows the same pattern - relationships are developed through consistent outreach, disciplined follow-up, and structured engagement over time.
Grace embodies that long-horizon thinking: resilient, composed, intellectually rigorous, and accountable to sustained progress. These are the qualities that define high-performance environments — and they sit at the core of the culture Clavana continues to build.
“Grace’s trajectory is remarkable,” said Lara Hughes-Francis, Co-Founder of Clavana. “To step onto skis at 18 and reach World Championship level within five years speaks to extraordinary discipline and learning velocity. She combines analytical rigour with composure under pressure - exactly the type of mindset we value at Clavana.”
We are proud to support her continued international racing career while she brings that same high-performance mindset into private-markets origination.
Welcome to Clavana, Grace Castonguay!
The Clavana Elite Athlete Program
Clavana’s Elite Athlete Program was created to support world-class athletes as they pursue their competitive ambitions while building meaningful careers beyond sport.
We recognize that elite athletes share many of the same qualities that make outstanding dealmakers: resilience, competitiveness, focus under pressure, adaptability, and exceptional communication. They are driven, disciplined, fiercely independent, and equally at home collaborating in teams to achieve something greater than themselves. These are the same traits that power success in origination, relationship management, and leadership within the financial and professional services industries.
Through the program, Clavana provides hands-on professional experience in origination, business development, and deal sourcing. This naturally aligns with the athlete mindset of persistence, curiosity, and continuous improvement.
The initiative offers both economic and structural support, creating a bridge between athletic excellence and future professional pathways. It helps athletes gain transferable skills, build networks, and develop commercial acumen while maintaining the flexibility required to train, travel, and compete at the highest level.
“Our goal is to create opportunities that not only recognize the discipline and intensity it takes to compete globally, but also provide a meaningful platform for transition, from sport to professional life,” said Clive Cooper, Co-Founder of Clavana, who has also enjoyed a remarkable career representing New Zealand in duathlon and continues to compete internationally. “This is about empowering exceptional individuals to thrive both on and off the field.”
By launching the Clavana Elite Athlete Program, the firm aims to champion those who embody the same grit, intelligence, and focus that drive success in investment and entrepreneurship - and to help them build futures that are as purposeful as their athletic careers.
About Clavana
Clavana partners with leading private equity funds, portfolio companies, and acquisitive corporates to deliver AI-driven market mapping, proprietary research, and fiercely effective deal origination.
Built on a simple belief - people power deals, not spreadsheets - Clavana represents a new breed of M&A origination: modern, human, and results-driven.
By combining data science with senior origination expertise, Clavana cuts through noise to uncover the right off-market opportunities and connect clients with the deals that move the needle.
Headquartered in the United States with a global, remote-first team, Clavana helps today’s dealmakers buy better, build better, and sell better.