THE IMPACT 50
These are the most notable investors working to make a difference with their dollars.
Jenny Abramson Areas of impact: Education, Tech, Health Care
Abramson backs female tech entrepreneurs through her Rethink Impact, which has invested in some 25 companies. It closed its second fund in July, raising $182 million.
Bill Ackman Areas of impact: Education, Housing, Health Care
His Pershing Square Foundation has put $30 million into Turner Impact Capital, some of which is funding affordable housing near workplaces for more than 16,000 residents.
Ibrahim AlHusseini Area of impact: Environment
His FullCycle investment firm, with $50 million in assets, has invested in companies including Netherlands-based waste-toenergy firm Synova Power.
Steve & Connie Ballmer Area of impact: Diversified
Ballmer-backed software firm Social Solutions, which serves nonprofits, announced in June that it would donate to Black Lives Matter and the Bail Project.
Marc Benioff Area of impact: Diversified
Benioff has put money into four social-impact companies in the last year, including toilet paper maker Cloud Paper, which uses bamboo instead of trees.
David Bonderman Area of impact: International
Cofounded by TPG chairman Bonderman, the Rise Fund raised nearly $2 billion for its second impact-focused fund last year. Its portfolio companies include India-based solar-energy startup Frontier Markets.
Jim Breyer Areas of impact: Health Care, International
The venture capitalist has made social-impact investments in five African companies, including one in Ghana that improves access to medicine.
Howard Buffett Areas of impact: International, Environment
The Oracle of Omaha’s grandson created the Impact Rate of Return, which measures the impact return of investments; it’s now used by more than 75 impact investors or funds.
Steve & Jean Case Area of impact: Diversified
The former AOL chief executive and his wife lead the Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, which invests in small startups located outside of New York City, Boston and Silicon Valley.
Kesha Cash Area of impact: Diversified
Her Impact America Fund has raised $54 million so far to back startups that promote an equitable future for lowand moderate-income people of color.
Scott Cook Area of impact: Education
In 2019, Cook invested in ed-tech firms including ParentPowered, which provides early education support to parents.
James Coulter Area of impact: International
Co-managing partner of the Rise Fund. Its investments include Latin American coding school Digital House, with some 8,000 students in São Paulo and Buenos Aires.
Mark Cuban Area of impact: Diversified
The Shark Tank star and outspoken NBA owner recently invested in Strella Biotechnology, which aims to reduce food waste by using data to predict fruit and vegetable ripeness.
Ray Dalio Area of impact: Diversified
The hedge-fund founder has put roughly $100 million into ventures such as the Global Health Investment Fund, which finances the development of drugs and vaccines for use in developing countries.
Impact 50 by Angel Au-Yeung, Deniz Çam, Hayley Cuccinello, Lauren Debter, Kerry A. Dolan, Antoine Gara, Alex Konrad, Jon Ponciano, Ariel Shapiro,
Chloe Sorvino, Kristin Stoller, Giacomo Tognini and Jennifer Wang
Michael & Susan Dell Areas of impact: Education, International
Avanti Learning Centres, an Indian coaching startup they’ve backed with $4.3 million, has been running a free app for math and science classes for low-income students during the Covid-19 crisis.
John Doerr Area of impact: Diversified
The Kleiner Perkins chairman’s recent investments include mental-health benefits company Modern Health, which aims to improve employee well-being. Dagmar Dolby Areas of impact: Health Care, Tech
Her Dolby Family Ventures counts QurAlis, a biotech firm researching treatments for ALS and dementia, as one of its nearly 50 portfolio companies.
Cheryl Dorsey Area of impact: Diversified
Dorsey’s Echoing Green provides seed funding to social entrepreneurs. In 2019, she led $2.7 million worth of investments in 54 organizations.
Bill & Melinda Gates Areas of impact: Health Care, Poverty/Inequality
Through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, they’ve backed two German biotechs now developing vaccines for Covid-19: BioNTech and CureVac.
Kathryn Gleason & Tim Ring Area of impact: Health Care
Gleason and her husband, Ring, cofounded TEAMFund, which invests in medical-tech startups to benefit low-income patients in India and Africa.
Al Gore Area of impact: Diversified
The former vice president cofounded the $24 billion (assets) Generation Investment Management to invest in sustainable, low-carbon companies.
Arlan Hamilton Area of impact: Diversified
Her Backstage Capital funded more than 130 early-stage companies led by minority and female founders, such as Hava Health, which has designed a vaporizer that reduces nicotine intake.
Reid Hoffman Areas of impact: Civic Engagement, Tech
The LinkedIn cofounder has put $1.5 billion of his fortune into impact investments like OpenAi, which aims to build safe AI to benefit humanity.
Irwin Jacobs Area of impact: Environment
The Qualcomm cofounder led a $4 million funding round in water-purification startup Cyclopure, the second investment he’s made in the Encinitas, California–based company.
Justin Kamine Areas of impact: Agriculture, Infrastructure
Kamine has built KDC Ag, a network that turns food waste from supermarkets into pet food, animal feed and organic fertilizers.
Mitch & Freada Kapor Area of impact: Diversified
Since 2011, their Kapor Capital has invested solely in impact startups; 60 of their 102 portfolio companies have a woman or underrepresented person of color as a cofounder.
Shahid Khan Area of impact: Civic Engagement
The auto-parts billionaire is majority owner of Black News Channel, which launched in February to provide 24/7 cable programming focused on news and perspectives of the AfricanAmerican community.
Vinod Khosla Area of impact: Diversified
The VC has helped finance startups like renewable jet biofuel maker LanzaTech, dairy-free egg replacement JUST Egg and battery company QuantumScape.
Dustin Moskovitz & Cari Tuna Area of impact: Diversified
In May, the couple invested in Kainomyx, a San Francisco–based biotech company working to develop a new antimalarial drug.
Jacqueline Novogratz Area of impact: Diversified
Her nonprofit impact fund, Acumen, has invested more than $125 million into about
130 companies tackling poverty, clean energy and education.
Amy Novogratz & Mike Velings Area of impact: Aquaculture
Through investing firm AquaSpark, Novogratz and her husband, Velings, have minority stakes in 20 companies, many of which are sustainable farms. (See story, page 54.)
Robyn O’Brien Area of impact: Agriculture
O’Brien cofounded rePlant Capital with two others to use creative financing, like loans to farmers with terms based on soil-health metrics, to combat climate change.
Pierre Omidyar Area of impact: International
Seeking to invest $300 million by 2024, Omidyar’s VC firm, Flourish, funds fintech companies in the U.S. and emerging markets to provide banking opportunities for low-income communities. Nancy Pfund Area of impact: Diversified
More than 50% of the companies in which Pfund’s venture-capital firm, DBL Partners (short for “Double Bottom Line”), invests have a female founder or a woman in the C-suite.
Laurene Powell Jobs Area of impact: Diversified
Through her Emerson Collective, she co-led a $7.5 million round for Syndio, a human-resources analytics platform working to eradicate pay gaps stemming from gender and race.
Liesel Pritzker Simmons Area of impact: Diversified
Her impact investing–focused Blue Haven Initiative backs companies such as Field Intelligence, which assists pharmacies in Africa with financing and distribution.
George Roberts Area of impact: Diversified
A pioneer of venture philanthropy, the Roberts Economic Development Foundation recently launched a $1.3 million impact lending fund to back social enterprises.
Valerie Rockefeller & Family Areas of impact: Environment, Poverty/Inequality
Their Rockefeller Brothers Fund has committed $203 million to impact investments in areas including climate change and sustainable agriculture.
Eric & Wendy Schmidt Area of impact: Environment
The couple has invested nearly $40 million in companies through their foundation, including Navajo Power, which develops solarenergy projects for tribal lands.
Ruth Shaber Area of impact: Health Care
The California obstetrician’s Tara Health Foundation has invested more than $70 million in companies that help improve women’s health.
Jeff Skoll Area of impact: Environment
His Capricorn Investment Group, with $5.2 billion in assets, backs outfits working on clean energy, including solid-state battery maker QuantumScape.
Will Smith & Jada Pinkett Smith Area of impact: Environment
Their portfolio of sustainable companies includes Quidnet Energy, a company that develops storage systems for excess electricity produced by renewable-energy systems. Jim Sorenson Area of impact: Diversified
The Sorenson Impact Foundation, which he founded in 2012 with his wife, Krista, has invested $44 million in startups working on health care, education and clean energy.
George Soros Area of impact: Diversified
Soros’ Open Society Foundation has made more than $100 million in impact investments, including $15 million in two women-led funds, Alitheia IDF and Women’s World Banking Capital Partners II.
Kat Taylor & Tom Steyer Areas of impact: Poverty/Inequality, Environment
In 2013, the couple cofounded Radicle Impact, which has invested nearly $50 million in companies engaged in responsible finance, clean energy and healthy food.
Ben & Lucy Ana Walton Areas of impact: Environment, Education
This grandson of Walmart founder Sam Walton started Zoma Capital with his wife, Lucy Ana, in 2013 to back companies combating environmental and social problems.
Serena Williams Area of impact: Diversified
Her Serena Ventures, which invests in companies with women and minority founders, provided seed funding to Every Mother, an online fitness program for pregnant women and new moms.
Evan Williams Area of impact: Environment
The Twitter cofounder’s Obvious Ventures invests in sustainable companies such as Mosaic, which offers financing for solar-energy customers.
Jerry Yang Area of impact: Diversified
The Yahoo cofounder’s AME
Cloud Ventures is invested in more than 100 companies, including meat-alternative maker Impossible Foods.
Mark Zuckerberg & Priscilla Chan Area of impact: Diversified
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative has funneled over $100 million into investments including Lovevery, which makes Montessori-inspired toys for babies and toddlers.