Impact & Social Good Startups

University of Manchester Innovation Factory commercialises intellectual property developed at the University of Manchester through spinout company creation and licensing deals. It operates as the university's technology transfer arm in the UK.

1 investor

Upaya invests in and supports portfolio companies to create dignified jobs, with a focus on impact measurement by interviewing jobholders and tracking quarterly job-creation data by gender through dashboards shared with supporters.

1 investor

UPchieve provides free, online tutoring and college counseling to low-income middle and high school students across the United States through a volunteer-powered model. The platform matches students with live coaches in under 5 minutes across 20+ subjects including math, science, humanities, and test preparation.

1 investor

Upcycled Food Association (UFA) is a global membership-based trade association that supports companies, nonprofits, academics, and individuals across the food supply chain working to prevent food waste by growing the upcycled food economy. It offers tiered memberships and runs awareness initiatives such as Upcycled Food Month.

1 investor

Upendo Agri produces raw organic honey sourced from traditional beekeepers in the forests and game reserves of western Tanzania, with certification to EU and USDA NOP standards and traceability to the individual beekeeper. The company markets its honey internationally while raising beekeeper incomes, supporting forest conservation, and prioritizing employment for women in the Kigoma region.

1 investor

Uplift Education is a network of tuition-free public charter schools serving around 23,000 students across 45 schools in six Texas cities, with a focus on preparing students for college and career. It emphasizes social-emotional development and college readiness, and reports that a large share of its students are economically disadvantaged and first-generation college attendees.

1 investor

The Upside Foundation of Canada is a registered charity that manages a legally binding equity pledge program, letting founders and VCs of high-growth Canadian tech companies commit a portion of their exit proceeds to charity. It also runs a network of events, investor connections, and ecosystem opportunities for its member founders.

1 investor

UpSocial is a social innovation consultancy that helps organizations and institutions design, evaluate, fund, and scale evidence-based solutions to complex social challenges such as poverty, inequality, and exclusion. Its services include program design, strategic evaluation, outcomes-based financing, prototyping, grant writing, and applying AI for social good.

1 investor

Upsolve is a nonprofit organization that provides free bankruptcy filing assistance to low-income Americans. The organization helps individuals erase debt through Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing, having assisted over 25,000 people in erasing more than $1.1 billion in total debt.

1 investor

The Urban Assembly provides public schools with programs and tools focused on improving student performance, social and emotional skills, and preparation for college and careers. It serves school leaders, educators, and students, primarily in New York, with a mission to advance economic and social mobility through public education.

1 investor

A Utah-based advocacy organization working to connect nonprofits, businesses, and policymakers to build a coordinated network of care across communities. It aims to bridge gaps in the care system by linking home, school, faith, work, and local organizations.

1 investor

Utah Humanities is a nonprofit organization running humanities-based programs across four initiatives: a Center for the Book, a Community Heritage program, Higher Education Access, and Community Conversations. It serves Utah communities to promote literature, local history and culture, educational access, and facilitated public dialogue.

1 investor

Utfallsfonden structures and finances social outcome contracts (social impact bonds), providing long-term funding, analysis, intervention design, and governance so that municipalities, regions, and organizations can adopt preventive approaches without bearing the financial risk. Repayment is tied to achieved results, and the fund works in partnership with public bodies, non-profit organizations, and private solution providers to address social challenges.

1 investor

United Way of Salt Lake is a nonprofit that mobilizes donors and volunteers to fund programs supporting basic needs and education for children and families. Its initiatives include school supply drives, 211 Utah basic-needs referrals, literacy events, and early childhood and math programs, focused on communities in Utah.

1 investor

Valor Education operates five tuition-free K-12 classical charter schools in Central Texas, teaching students through the classical liberal arts tradition, from the Great Books to fine arts, math, and science. It also runs the Valor Institute for Studies in Person and Community, which promotes a vision of human flourishing in community.

1 investor

Valor Collegiate Academies operates a network of three tuition-free public charter schools in Nashville, Tennessee, serving about 1,900 students in grades 5-12. It uses its Compass social-emotional learning model to combine college-ready academics with whole-child development, and licenses that model to 60+ partner schools nationally.

1 investor

ValueCo aggregates proprietary ESG assessments from 50+ institutional investors to produce an anonymized, consensus view of how extra-financial (ESG) matters influence investment decisions. Its platform serves corporates, asset managers, and asset owners to track market ESG sentiment, detect reputation risks, and benchmark ESG perception.

1 investor

Variegate operates a platform that connects farmers and landowners with capital and risk-assessed diversification options, while linking investors to impact investment opportunities and technology providers to farms ready to adopt their solutions. It serves the agriculture sector as a marketplace matching on-farm diversification needs with funding and technology.

1 investor

Vedra Partners is a family-office-owned wealth management firm providing institutional-quality investment management, asset allocation, direct trading, and private co-investment opportunities to the families it serves. It operates as a partnership model with a focus on sustainability across public markets and impact themes in private equity.

1 investor

Next Level operates plant-based restaurants across North America, serving vegan burgers and menu items made with an animal-free supply chain, organic vegetables, and non-GMO ingredients. It runs the Next Level Burger and Veggie Grill brands, with over 20 locations coast-to-coast in the US.

1 investor

Vegheet produces long-shelf-life vegetable-based food products made from vegetables and agar with no additives or chemical seasonings, offered in formats ranging from sheets to gels and soups for global food security and nutrition.

1 investor

Venly develops large-scale enterprise systems, building on the team's background from Benchmarking Partners, which created Walmart's first internet-based supplier collaboration system and an early business-to-business internet commerce standard. The company draws on experience deploying enterprise and cloud infrastructure capabilities.

1 investor

Venture Garden Group deploys capital, technology, and talent to support transformative growth in emerging economies, partnering with governments, businesses, founders and investors. The group specializes in equity and debt funding for high-impact projects, technology incubation, and professional talent development across multiple continents.

1 investor

VentureWell is an organization that supports science and technology innovators through training, mentoring, funding, and networking programs to help them commercialize their research and solve complex global challenges.

1 investor