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Kapor Capital is a venture capital investment offshoot of the Kapor Center for Social Impact based in Oakland, CA.
Kapor Capital is a venture capital investment offshoot of the Kapor Center for Social Impact based in Oakland, CA. The firm invests in early-stage tech startups that are both economically promising and strive for positive social impact at the same time. Kapor Capital maintains that diversity in tech is a priority in the industry.
Founded in 1999, Kapor Capital, the firm seeks to invest in early-stage companies operating in the information technology, education, energy, environment, health, work, finance, mobile, justice, food, media, and retail sectors across the United States.
Kapor Capital is an early-stage venture capital firm based in Oakland, California, that invests in startups working on innovative solutions to social problems. The firm was founded in 1999 by Mitch Kapor, a pioneer in the personal computer industry and a leading advocate for diversity and inclusion in the tech industry, and his wife, Freada Kapor Klein.
The firm's origins can be traced back to 1997 when Kapor founded the Mitchell Kapor Foundation to support social justice and environmental causes. Over time, Kapor and Kapor Klein began to focus more on the role of technology in creating social change, and in 2000 they launched the Level Playing Field Institute, which aims to increase diversity in the tech industry.
Kapor Capital was founded as an extension of these efforts, with a focus on investing in startups that are using technology to address social and environmental challenges. The firm's first investments were made in 2011, and since then it has invested in a range of companies working on issues such as healthcare, education, environmental sustainability, and diversity and inclusion.
In addition to its investment activities, Kapor Capital is also known for its advocacy work around diversity and inclusion in the tech industry. The firm has been a vocal critic of the lack of diversity in the industry and has called for more action to address this issue. It has also developed a set of "Kapor Capital Founders' Commitments," which are designed to help startups build diverse and inclusive teams from the earliest stages.
Overall, Kapor Capital has become known as a leader in the impact investing space, with a focus on both financial returns and social impact. The firm has invested in over 130 companies and has raised over $500 million to support its work.
Kapor Capital’s mission is to only invest in companies that have the potential to impact the social structures in a positive way, be it in the sphere of gender, ethnic, or racial diversity, employee rights, sustainability, et cetera.
Like one of the founders of the firm, Kapor Klein said: “There are many [companies] that we’ve turned down that the technology is perfectly fine, but it’s not clear who is going to win or lose…If this company is successful and the technology is deployed, will it be gap widening or closing? Ultimately, if it’s not clear that it could have a positive impact, the firm chooses not to take the risk”.
In their current portfolio, Kapor Capital have startups such as: Accredible, Aclima, Allovue, Citizen, LovewithFood, to mention a few.
That makes for:
60 out of 102 investments (59%) that have a founder who identifies as a woman and/or an underrepresented person of colour
38% of first-time investments which have a founder who identifies as a woman
34% of first-time investments which have a founder of a racially underrepresented background
25% of first-time investments which have a founder from an Asian group
The firm's portfolio includes a diverse range of companies that are using technology to address social and environmental challenges, particularly those that impact underrepresented and marginalized communities.
Here are a few examples of companies in Kapor Capital's portfolio:
https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/kapor-capital
https://www.cbinsights.com/investor/kapor-capital
https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexkonrad/2022/09/07/kapor-capital-impact-vc-firm-raises-126-million/
https://pitchbook.com/profiles/investor/51639-67
https://unicorn-nest.com/funds/kapor-capital/
https://angel.co/company/kapor-capital
https://theorg.com/org/kapor-capital/org-chart/marion-araque
