The Katz Amsterdam Foundation strives to be a catalyst for eliminating barriers to health, increasing access to opportunity, and improving outcomes for all.
To advance progress further and at a faster rate, we go beyond traditional philanthropy. We pair grantmaking with impact investing, working at the intersection of philanthropy and venture to help accelerate the pace of progress towards a more sustainable, equitable future. We fund for-profit, social impact funds and entrepreneurs that are committed to social change and improving human or climate well-being at scale. We believe that capital markets can act as a strong mechanism for tackling significant societal challenges like closing gaps of access, increasing opportunities for diverse populations, eliminating barriers to quality healthcare, and improving environmental outcomes.
Since our launch in 2018, the Katz Amsterdam Foundation has awarded approximately $56 million in grants and as of 2021, we have committed over $21 million in impact investments to private capital entities that are transforming industries while advancing positive change.
Here are some of the areas we focus on:
Healthy Living
We look to invest in market-based solutions that increase access to healthcare at lower costs, foster improved well-being, and advance scientific innovation in medicine contributing to greater health outcomes and quality of life. We work to improve equitable access to quality care—emphasizing companies that focus on delivering care to underrepresented groups including communities of color, low- to moderate-income, and rural communities.
As part of this emphasis, we are making investments in early- and growth-stage companies that are driving innovation, access, and equity in Reproductive and Maternal Health to better outcomes for women of color and others directly affected by systemic inequities. Another subset of this focus is around Mental and Behavioral Health. We believe we need to reduce the stigma and improve outcomes associated with mental health and addiction treatment. Despite the increasing prevalence of mental health conditions worldwide, the current standard of care in mental health is inadequate. We look to back companies focused on providing affordable, accessible, and high-quality mental health and addiction treatment solutions for everyone that needs it.
Opportunity and Inclusion
We tackle gaps of cost, access, and opportunity by partnering with funds or portfolio companies that disproportionately benefit diverse and disinvested populations. This includes investing in business models that democratize access to financial tools and resources, reduce costs to quality learning and education, address the growing skills gap in the workforce, and create opportunities for upward financial mobility. We are also looking to promote Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) by providing capital to emerging or diverse investment managers, underserved start-up teams, and entrepreneurs from under-represented backgrounds—working towards creating a more inclusive venture capital and technology ecosystem.
Sustainable Climate
We believe that climate change is a global crisis and addressing it must be a priority. We are investing in market-based technologies and solutions that address global energy and resource challenges, protect and preserve the world’s resources, reduce global carbon emissions, and accelerate the transition to clean energy and electrification. As a subset of this focus, we channel capital towards companies that are re-imagining the Future of Food using innovative technology to disrupt food production, increase resource efficiency, and ensure sustainability.
Please see our list of investments, including a brief description of the amazing work they each do:
47th Street Partners
47th Street Partners is an early-stage venture capital firm that partners with founders of companies innovating in technology infrastructure, financial technology, and consumer-enablement technology. The firm is led by Jaren Glover, an engineer turned investor, who lives at the intersection of code, capital, and culture. He most recently worked at Robinhood (employee ~40) as the 2nd Infrastructure Engineer hire, building the company’s infrastructure foundation which powered user growth from 150K to 22M+. Jaren is an emerging manager and this investment is part of a broader strategy to invest with underrepresented talent.
Base10 Advancement Initiative
Base10 Partners is a venture capital firm that invests in companies automating the real economy—or as they say, “investing in entrepreneurs that are solving problems for the 99%.” Base 10’s Advancement Initiative team aims to align the success of technology companies with wealth creation for underrepresented minorities by donating 50% of their carried interest to Historical Black Colleges and Universities (“HBCUs”) and select organizations that support job opportunities in technology for underrepresented minorities. Founded in 2017 and based in San Francisco, Base10 is the first Black-led venture capital firm to surpass $1 billion in assets under management.
Better Ventures
Better Ventures invests in early-stage founders leveraging scientific breakthroughs and emerging technologies to decarbonize the economy, improve human health, and build a more equitable society. Their combination of focus on mission, and on essential science and technology, enables them to see opportunities at the forefront of emerging fields in climate tech, healthcare, and the labor market. They back diverse teams and have set public diversity goals of investing in portfolios that are 50/10/10% female/Black/Latinx founded.
Brave Health
Brave Health is a virtual clinic specializing in behavioral health for the Medicaid population. The company provides telehealth-enabled counseling, therapy, psychiatry, and medication management, including medication assisted treatment. Brave Health treats a range of conditions across the spectrum of mental health and substance use disorders.
Cibus Enterprise Fund II
Cibus invests in innovative agri-food technology companies that are using the latest technology to transform the food value chain to a more sustainable footing. Cibus seeks to fulfill a unique position within the investment universe, building a diversified portfolio in late-stage venture companies working with technologies providing the potential for unprecedented positive change across resource efficiency, biodiversity, greenhouse gas emissions, human health and animal health.
City Light Capital
City Light partners with experienced teams to build scalable companies that have a meaningful impact in the areas of education, safety and care, and the environment. They tackle opportunity, access, and cost gaps by partnering with companies that disproportionally benefit diverse and disadvantaged populations.
Clayful
Clayful is the developer of a text-based mental health coaching platform designed to give every student someone to talk to. The company’s platform connects students ages eight to fourteen with mental health coaches, who engage in text-based, one-on-one coaching chats with kids, whenever kids reach out, enabling individual users as well as schools to bridge the gap to affordable mental health care and provide all kids with support. They partner with schools to pay for & distribute Clayful to their students, and they’re building a new layer of the workforce by upskilling & reskilling everyday people to become coaches.
Congruent Ventures
Founded in 2017 and based in San Francisco, Congruent Ventures’ mission is to become the go-to early-stage venture fund focused on transformative technology and business models in the climate and sustainability sector. Congruent invests broadly across the Mobility & Transportation, Energy Transition, Food & Agriculture, and Sustainable Production & Consumption sectors. Their portfolio represents companies that will help to decarbonize every sector of the economy—energy, fleet electrification, farming, new food products, sustainable aviation fuels, manufacturing, and more.
Generation Sustainable Solutions
Generation invests globally in growth-stage, private companies with proven technology and commercial traction, run by talented mission-driven management teams. The fund seeks to identify companies that they think will be on the right side of the structural social and economic changes that are already under way, and that are accelerating the transition to a more sustainable economy.
GreyMatter Capital
GreyMatter Capital was launched to help founders navigate the complex mental health startup journey. GreyMatter is looking to establish a premier platform to support entrepreneurs and cultivate an ecosystem for companies that are focused on mental health and emotional wellbeing. GreyMatter Fund I is taking an early-stage approach at the pre-seed and seed stage, investing across mental wellness, behavioral healthcare, and frontier technologies. GreyMatter’s founders, Andrew & Danish bring decades of experience across investing, founding companies and building in the mental health space.
GroundForce Capital
GroundForce Capital is a global leader investing in companies that are better for humanity and the climate. GroundForce seeks to capitalize on a massive opportunity in rebuilding our food system to be more healthy, sustainable, and humane.
Kapor Capital
Kapor Capital is an Oakland-based venture capital firm that invests in industry-transforming startups. We redefine what venture capital is capable of by prioritizing a new outcome: a more fair, just, and equitable society for low income communities and underrepresented communities of color.
Lowercarbon Capital
Lowercarbon Capital is a venture capital firm that specializes in investments in early- and mid-stage technology companies that are healing the planet by reducing carbon emissions and other greenhouse gases.
Lykos Therapeutics
Lykos Therapeutics is a for-profit public benefit corporation established to further the development of investigational psychedelic-assisted therapies, with a goal to bring MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD through FDA approval and into commercialization.
Magnify Ventures
Magnify seeks to back visionary leaders building breakthrough technology companies that reimagine life for modern families, from childbirth to end-of-life. Magnify focuses on four underserved yet significant market opportunities: The Future of Parenting and Family Life, Aging Innovation, Household Optimization, and Work-Life Reimagined.
Palo Santo
Palo Santo is a U.S.–based psychedelic healthcare investment fund focused on increasing the supply of clinically effective and accessible mental health and addiction treatment solutions needed in today’s world. The firm targets a diverse range of companies offering innovative solutions across biopharma, drug development, digital therapeutics, healthcare services, and tech-enabled solutions to address the growing global mental health crisis. From cutting-edge science to commercial application, Palo Santo’s portfolio includes more than 30 companies focused on advancing the field of psychedelic medicines and expanding patient access and affordability.
Reach Capital
Reach Capital invests in category-defining education technology (“EdTech”) companies transforming early childhood, K-12, higher education and the future of work. Led by former educators and entrepreneurs, Reach supports people and ideas thatreduce barriers to learning so that opportunity is within reach for every person, particularly underserved populations and marginalized communities.
RH Capital
RH Capital is a women’s health venture capital fund investing in early- and growth-stage companies. As impact investors, RH Capital invests in innovations that significantly improve access, quality, choice and equity of care for all women, with a particular focus on underserved and marginalized communities. The fund, its investors and its portfolio companies all share a common mission – to improve the health and wellbeing of all women in the US and beyond.
Seven Starling
Seven Starling is a virtual, insurance-first mental healthcare company focused on the reproductive journey, including preconception, pregnancy, miscarriage, loss, abortion, postpartum and parenthood. Their core offerings include small group and individual therapy, with a care coordinator/coach and an app with educational content and reflective exercises to provide support in between sessions.
Valo Ventures
Valo Ventures is a thesis-driven, early-stage technology venture capital firm focused on investments in three global megatrends: climate changed, circular economy, and empowered people. Valo seeks to partner with purpose-driven entrepreneurs who are successfully applying scalable technologies for important applications in the physical world. Their mission is “to invest for a brighter future,” which they define as investing in venture stage companies that are creating products and services that deliver long-term social, economic, and environmental benefits.