National Geographic, the Ford Foundation and Cambridge Associates have signed up to be limited partners in Kapor Capital’s $126 million fund, the California social venture firm’s biggest yet.
The Oakland, Calif.-based Kapor Capital’s Fund III will be the first to be run by non-founders — managing partners Uriridiakoghene “Ulili” Onovakpuri and Brian Dixon — as the venture capital firm maintains its legacy of investing in startups contributing to social change and raising the lives of low-income communities and communities of color.
Other limited partners in Kapor’s Fund III include Align Impact, Bank of America, PayPal, Twilio, Footlocker, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana, EIP Elevate Future Fund, Southern Poverty Law, The California Wellness Foundation, Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation and Stardust Equity.
‘Eye on Impact’
The National Geographic Society, headquartered in Washington, D.C., is one of the largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Its for-profit media ventures are run via National Geographic Partners, a joint venture with The Walt Disney Company. The society also has a variety of partnerships with other global media firms for television and publications. It is funded by a range of charitable, governmental and corporate donors, some of them run by high-net worth individuals such as film star Leonardo DiCaprio, and Bill and Melinda Gates. Its corporate backers include Lockheed Martin and Pfizer.
Even though it has eyed “impact” investments, the National Geographic has funded less than a handful of startups with shared goals. So far, it has made only four investments — edtech firm Cricket Media; eMotion, maker of business apps to manage digital media assets; Spatial, a developer of core audio software; and Networked Organisms, publishers of a nature lover’s app Project Noah. Of the four, it has exited Cricket Media and eMotion.
The Ford Foundation, established in 1936, aims to reduce poverty and injustice, strengthen democratic values, promote international cooperation, and advance human achievement. Toward these, it engages in a variety of activities, including “impact investment” in select startups that share its goals. It is headquartered in New York City and chartered in Michigan.
Cambridge Associates was started nearly 50 years ago by Harvard College roommates Hunter Lewis and James Bailey. Today, it has about $30 billion in assets under management, and nearly $400 billion in assets under advisement. It is led by CEO David Druley.
Master of Nonprofits
Mitch Kapor was a software developer best known for creating Lotus 1-2-3, the best known spreadsheet until Excel. He also cofounded the digital rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation and served as the chairman of Mozilla Foundation. He also was associated with SMASH, a nonprofit started by his wife, Freada Kapor Klein, that uses academic learning and experiential engagement to level the playing field for high school and college students.
In 2011, Kapor started Kapor Capital, a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage startups that close gaps in access, opportunity and outcome, while making progress toward diversity, equity and inclusion. In later years, Kapor also started the Kapor Center for Social Impact.
New Fund On Its Way
Kapor Capital has made 249 portfolio investments since its inception in 2011. Of them, 122 were diversity investments. The firm has made 51 exits. Of Kapor Capital’s investments, $106 million has been in technology-driven companies; and founders at 62% of its portfolio firms identify themselves as under-represented people of color and/or women.
The firm has already made 15 portfolio investments from its newest fund. Of them, all have a founder who identifies as an underrepresented person of color; 46% have a woman founder; and 53% have a founder who identifies as Black. Kapor Capital’s newest portfolio investments include Cayaba Care, a maternity support service; Daylight, a digital banking platform designed for the LGBTQ+ community; and TomoCredit, a credit card for young adults, students and immigrants.
Commercial Real Estate
MacKenzie Companies
Advertising / Media / Communications / Public Relations
Nevins & Associates
Financial Services / Investment Firms
Chesapeake Corporate Advisors
Commercial Real Estate
Monday Properties
Venture Capital
Blue Delta Capital Partners
Internet / Technology
Foxtrot Media
For Uriridiakoghene “Ulili” Onovakpuri, it is a second stint with Kapor Capital. She first joined the California firm in 2011, serving for two years as an investment analyst. She is now one of two managing partners, tasked with carrying forward the legacy of the venture firm’s founders. With degrees or certificates from UC Berkeley, Tel Aviv University and the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University, where she specialized in Health Sector Management, and Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Onovakpuri has worked at IBM and other companies. She also cofounded a healthcare firm called LifeKit.
From Intern to Managing Partner
Brian Dixon started at Kapor Capital as an intern in 2011. Today, he is one of the youngest African-American partners at a Silicon Valley venture capital firm. As co-managing partner, along with Onovakpuri, he led the firm’s biggest funding round and will jointly manage its assets. A Kauffman Fellow, Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT) Fellow, and two-time tech startup founder, Dixon has an M.B.A. from the F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College and a Bachelor of Science in Computer and Information Science from Northeastern University.
