Jobs for the Future (JFF), a Boston, MA-based nationwide nonprofit that drives transformation within the American workforce and schooling techniques, launched JFF Ventures, a brand new influence investing arm that can handle funds targeted completely on rising applied sciences with the potential to enhance financial mobility for employees in low-wage jobs.
Led by Yigal Kerszenbaum, founding managing accomplice, JFF Ventures will put money into seed- and early- stage corporations with a devoted deal with creating know-how options that create alternatives for financial development for employees in low- and middle-wage jobs. By JFF Ventures, JFF will prioritize investments in startups based or led by girls of all backgrounds and women and men of coloration.
Will probably be supported by a newly-formed Company Innovation Council of leaders in expertise administration and growth, investing, and company social duty who will advise tech entrepreneurs tackling a few of at the moment’s most crucial challenges associated to fairness, inclusion and financial mobility. The brand new council will present teaching, recommendation on go-to-market technique, and suggestions on product design and enterprise mannequin to assist founders maximize product-market match. Founding members embrace Jocelyn Caldwell, vp, Workforce Technique and Planning at Walmart; Todd Lewis, vp at Prologis Ventures; Milan Suri, senior director, Distribution Development Ventures at Northwestern Mutual; and Nikita Steals, vp, Tech Expertise Acquisition at Capital One.
The brand new funding arm marks a serious enlargement of JFF’s rising deal with know-how investing and acceleration, constructing on the group’s 2019 acquisition and incubation of the Employment Know-how Fund ([email protected]). So far, JFF has already invested in additional than 35 high-impact know-how startups via [email protected], which can grow to be JFF Ventures Fund I. Greater than half of JFF’s present portfolio corporations launched with feminine founders, in comparison with 2.3% of corporations who’ve obtained enterprise funding general, and 60% launched with founders of coloration.
AI VENTURES
21/10/2022
