JFF Ventures

We are a nationally-ranked venture capital firm and accelerator that brings together startup founders, investors, corporations, job seekers, universities, musicians and artists. The gener8tor platform includes more than 75 programs spanning startup accelerators, corporate programming, speaker series, conferences, skills accelerators and fellowships. gener8tor believes that everyone deserves opportunities, regardless of race, place or gender. And that is what we consider our mission. Why do we do it? Our mission is to be the best partner for a community to invest in its best and brightest. We envision communities achieving measurable and transformational growth through programming that enables equitable access and opportunity. We do what we do because we care about our communities. At gener8tor, everyone belongs. We don’t just talk the talk, we walk the walk. Our goal is to close equity gaps for founders, continually improve the workforce, and foster relationships with diverse communities and organizations that are dedicated to DE&I. From the culture of our own company to the experience of our programs and participants, we strive to create an inclusive and safe environment for everyone.

ECMC Foundation is a national foundation working to improve postsecondary outcomes for students from underserved communities. ECMC Foundation makes investments in two focus areas: college success and career readiness; and uses a spectrum of funding structures, including strategic grantmaking and program-related investments, to invest in both nonprofit and for-profit ventures. Launched in 2018, ECMC Foundation’s Education Innovation Ventures (EIV) program provides catalytic, risk capital to early-stage ventures working to increase postsecondary educational outcomes and economic mobility among learners who face systemic barriers. Through program-related investments, EIV’s capital generates impact alongside financial returns, which are recycled to fund further impact initiatives and drive changes in educational attainment and economic mobility for learners. Investment Strategy and Objectives EIV provides flexible, risk capital to early-stage ventures and entrepreneurs working to seed innovations, prove new models, and enable ventures to scale their impact. Our early-stage investments are designed to support ventures focused on improving postsecondary persistence and completion and/or job attainment at family-sustaining wages, specifically for learners and jobseekers who face systemic barriers to economic mobility. Since launching in 2018, EIV’s investments have allowed the Foundation to tap into the creative power of the nonprofit and for-profit sectors through social enterprises working on college persistence and success, alternative postsecondary education financing, career exploration, upskilling and training, and equitable hiring initiatives. The investment thesis builds upon learnings from the Foundation’s grantmaking portfolios on College Success and Career Readiness. EIV makes several types of investments: Direct Investments: the Foundation invests capital into social enterprises that serve learners and jobseekers Fund Investments: capital is deployed to funds that reinvest capital into social ventures Donor Advised Funds (DAF) Investments: capital is sent through a donor advised fund and invested into social ventures Education Innovation Venture’s Five-Point Model EIV considers ventures that demonstrate a commitment to delivering intentional, sustained and measurable social impact, and align with the Foundation's mission of inspiring and facilitating improvements in postsecondary education for underestimated learners. We look for the following criteria in our investments: Impact: A measurable strategy for driving educational outcomes and economic mobility for students from underserved backgrounds and markets; a commitment to sharing lessons learned with the greater education sector. Risk & Innovation: Early-stage ventures with transformative and disruptive products and services that address an unmet market need. Scalability: Ventures with sustainable business models using market-based approaches that need access to patient capital in order to achieve scale. Leverage: Ventures that test new and bold ideas with the potential to attract additional sources of capital to grow impact. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: Intentionality around building a diverse and inclusive body of leadership and practicing strong internal social governance. Special Initiative: Innovative Financing Models Beginning in 2021, ECMC Foundation will invest up to $2.5 million through Education Innovation Ventures into short-term training and education programs that use alternative financing models to accelerate the upskilling and retraining needed for America’s unemployed workforce to find gainful employment and attain family-sustaining wages. Learn more about why we are investing in Innovative Financing Models.

Startups are super-tools to change the world. Let’s build stuff that matters. Social Planet Ventures invests in hyper-ambitious startups that want to address the world’s most pressing social challenges with solid and scaleable tech solutions. The reason is simple; We believe that in the future, some of the most valuable businesses will be those that deliver meaningful and positive social outcome for millions of people and for society at large – alongside their financial success. We search for companies with such a vision and can assist with setting a scaleable foundation in the initial and very fragile stage. Advancing social cohesion We want to invest in visionary founders with innovative superior tech solutions that strengthen social cohesion by addressing problems of inequality, marginalisation and exclusion; Education and re-skilling 20% or 50 million jobs in the European Workforce is expected to be automated by 2030. That will not lead to fewer jobs but to different types of jobs, which will require a massive re-skilling of our existing workforce to empower people to actively participate in our society. Preventive health and wellbeing By 2050, the share of people over 65 will be around 30%, compared to around 20% today. This will put a pressure on our welfare system. In EU today, we spend 3% of total public and private health care expenditures on preventive health. We expect to see wave of new ways to better detect and prevent people from getting sick to keep the same quality of care. Inclusive work-life With a shrinking workforce, we need to be much better at understanding and foster diversity, equity and inclusion to unlock the full potential of everyone. Closing the gender/skill gap in EU tech jobs alone has a potential of GDP increase of as much as €600 billion according to McKinsey. Sustainable living 100 million people in the EU is at risk of poverty or social exclusion. New technology can provide a foundation for more sustainable and inclusive communities that offers attractive careers, businesses, infrastructure, and living opportunities to secure a long-term resilient society. Inclusive financial services More than 30% of people in EU do not save for retirement because they can’t afford it. In average low-income households pays a Poverty Premium of up to €1,000 a year for essential products and services due to reasons that they cannot control, such as where they can afford to live. Open banking, blockchain and AI creates new opportunities and democratise access to financial services to create better societal resilience. About us Our investment team is based in Copenhagen and Stockholm. Alongside capital from pre-seed to Series A, we provide specialized support with product-market-impact fit, impact & ESG management, hiring and fundraising. We align ourselves with Article 9 SFDR and we measure the positive social impact of all our investments and base our compensation on the provided measurable impact.

Inclusive Investing™ is a market-backed discipline that allows us to cast a targeted, yet wide net when sourcing companies, while keeping outsized returns and impact front and center in our investment decisions. There’s a lot of talk about demographics and a lack of diversity in venture capital. Inclusive investing is a strategy that proactively addresses this problem. While we’re pioneering this strategy, the data supporting our thesis is on our side: diverse fund managers earn better returns, and companies with diverse leadership outperform their peers. Inclusive Investing™ goes beyond diversity - it’s a new investment discipline that can transform the way we source, invest in, and scale businesses, and in doing so, create new pathways to prosperity for individuals, businesses, and communities at scale. Inclusive Investing™ levels the playing field so the best businesses and most talented teams succeed. A Five-Pronged ApproachImplemented cohesively, these five areas of practice yield an Inclusive Investing™ discipline Zeal is spearheading in the venture world across private markets.Diverse Fund Managers: Fund managers and the broader team are diverse with complementary backgrounds and skill sets. Diverse Management Teams: Companies proactively source diverse management teams with complementary skill sets and backgrounds that help portfolio companies outperform. Geographic Inclusivity: Funds source from a wide range of geographies across the U.S., not just traditional geographic VC “hotbeds”. Investment Focus: Investment allocation is directed to sectors where fund managers expect continued innovation and opportunity for disruption. Impact Lens: Investments seek to achieve top tier financial and social returns that impact low-wealth communities and small businesses.

We envision an inclusive economy that thrives with innovation by realizing the value and potential of each of us. Our Mission: Building the Future Together We aim to transform people, companies, and industries in order to build a more equitable and inclusive economy. We work with today’s leaders to create long term growth by integrating diverse perspectives and dismantling personal, organizational and systemic barriers to inclusion. We are creating a new class of companies by investing in the next generation of inclusive ventures We believe that an inclusive economy thrives with innovation by realizing the value and potential of each of us. We build an inclusive economy alongside companies and people like you. We believe in the possibility of a brighter future. Let’s Build The Future Together We pledge to build a brighter future. We envision an equitable, entrepreneurial future, and we come alongside diverse leaders to build that future together.

Investing in Ambitious Start-ups Changing the future of work. Whether providing access to work opportunities, improving career development, enhancing diversity and inclusion, providing financial stability, supporting wellbeing, or fostering flexibility, worker-centric transformation is possible. Our portfolio companies provide solutions that add up to a positive impact on workers and improve value for employers. Our Approach. High-Conviction, Hands-On Investors to Early-Stage Companies We establish relationships throughout the venture lifecycle and, depending on the stage of the business, apply different investment strategies and support. We encourage shared learning and synergies across our portfolio, and provide relevant advice and hands-on value-add in the following areas: Team development & leadership alignment Go-to-market & sales process build Governance & business process development Commercial strategy Product & technology strategy Our Values. Our Values Guide Our Culture Across NoBa and our portfolio, it’s essential we embody our values, practice what we preach and create an example for the venture ecosystem to walk the talk. Honesty: Pragmatic honesty enables trust. Collaborative: Demanding collective excellence. Difference Makers: Prideful risk-taking for impact. Agile: Logic-driven speed creates efficiency. Disruptive: Challenging the status quo.