The Family Fund & Founder Community

Gates Family Foundation (GFF) celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2021. Since its creation, the Foundation has distributed more than $550 million in grants, with another more than $65 million committed to impact investments in recent years. The Foundation endowment of approximately $575 million consists of both main Foundation assets and eight different family funds where family members house their philanthropic assets with the Foundation. Governance of the Foundation is a partnership of family and community representatives. The Foundation maintains a strong commitment to communities across Colorado through its responsive capital grant making as well as its initiated grantmaking in four key areas: Education: Expanding access to educational opportunities for all children in Colorado. Natural Resources: Supporting land conservation, water resource management, forest and watershed health, and stewardship of the state’s natural inheritance. Community Development: Addressing the root causes of economic inequality and inequitable community development, with particular emphasis on economic mobility and affordable housing. Informed Communities: Ensuring all Coloradans have access to trustworthy, rigorous, fact-based local news and information about important civic issues. In recent years, the Foundation has sought to increase its impact through more creative approaches to grantmaking, an expanded impact investing program, increases in staffing and expertise, and an increased focus on convening, partnering, and where appropriate, leading in the community. Climate has become a lens through which all Foundation grantmaking, investments, and activity are viewed, and since 2018, the Foundation has made an intentional commitment to advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) efforts internally and through its grantmaking, impact investing, and operations. To learn more about Gates Family Foundation and its programs, visit our website atwww.gatesfamilyfoundation.org.

BlackHill is a leading growth fund employing both venture capital and private equity strategies to generate returns and impact. We follow a disciplined approach to investing and value creation. In their previous avatars, the founders have produced stellar investment returns. BlackHill is a leading growth fund employing both venture capital and private equity strategies to generate returns and impact. We follow a disciplined approach to investing and value creation. In their previous avatars, the founders have produced stellar investment returns

The Dementia Discovery Fund (DDF) is a £250m specialist venture capital fund that invests in, and creates, new biotech companies to deliver high impact therapeutics for age-related dementias. By making meaningful, sustained, and actively managed investments we will enable the development of therapeutics addressing one of the largest global unmet medical needs, thus generating significant returns for our investors. The Dementia Discovery Fund will succeed in this challenging but rewarding space by taking a venture investing approach combined with deep domain expertise and active management. The DDF will invest to rapidly progress diverse approaches into clinical development for all forms of dementia including Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), Parkinson’s Disease Dementia (PDD), Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD), Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), and Huntington’s Disease (HD). The DDF team will leverage learnings from its dementia-focused team and portfolio. By seeking and receiving advice from our sophisticated investor base, our Scientific Advisory Board (SAB), and our network of academic thought leaders, we will make investments deeply informed by rigorous scientific insight and years of experience developing therapeutics. In addition, our portfolio companies have access to a broad group of potential partners and acquirers, including our SAB, portfolio company syndicate partners, and the industry and venture network of our experienced team. We seek companies led by bold entrepreneurs, across the full spectrum of company and asset stage opportunities. Where we do not see others leading the way to create companies informed by cutting edge science that can make a difference to dementia patients, we will build those companies ourselves, assisted by our bench of experienced entrepreneurs and company creators. History Established in 2015, the Dementia Discovery Fund (DDF) saw its final close at £250 million in 2018 making the DDF the world’s largest venture capital fund focused on discovering and developing novel disease-modifying therapeutics for all forms of dementia. Seven leading pharmaceutical companies – Biogen, Eli Lilly and Company, GSK, Johnson & Johnson, Otsuka (Astex), Pfizer and Takeda – along with AARP, Aegon, Bill Gates, British Patient Capital, NFL Players Association, Quest Diagnostics, UnitedHealth Group, the UK’s Department of Health and Social Care, and the charity Alzheimer’s Research UK (among others) have invested in the DDF. Advised by SV Health Investors (SV), a leading life sciences venture capital and growth equity firm, the investment and strategic support the DDF can provide is unrivalled. SV has been investing in biotech companies for over 25 years and brings a proven track record of identifying early-stage research opportunities and supporting their development into novel medicines. The DDF has a mandate to interrogate novel hypotheses and expand the breadth of targets and mechanisms in development for dementia therapies over the life of the fund. This mandate enables the DDF to invest in truly novel, early stage projects starting from target identification onwards to explore novel biological insights for translation into disease modifying drugs. The Impact of Dementia The challenge posed by dementia is enormous. As the average age of the population grows, dementia is one of the biggest global health threats we face, and the challenge is growing. Worldwide, around 50 million people are affected by dementia and every year there are nearly 10 million new cases. According to the World Health Organization, the total number of people with dementia is projected to reach 82 million in 2030 and 152 million in 2050. These demographics include not only AD, but other dementias such as PDD, FTD, ALS and HD. Dementia is a cruel disease that robs people of their abilities, personality and dignity, creating a significant burden for families and society. Contributing to this burden is the lack of effective treatments for people with dementia. Finding ways to treat this condition is critical but has, so far, proven extremely difficult due to the complexity of the origin and manifestation. As a result, there are currently no existing therapies that have a meaningful impact on the downward progression of dementia symptoms or the disease. However, the historic difficulty of developing treatments for dementia is not a reason to give up, but a reason to try harder. Scientists are learning from adjacent fields, such as the recent advances in immuno-oncology, and innovative research is opening-up new opportunities beyond the well explored scientific hypotheses.

Our mission is to empower entrepreneurs to do immense good. We approach this mission with a deep understanding of the sector – Founders Pledge was built for and by entrepreneurs, and launched out of Founders Forum, Europe's foremost network of digital and technology entrepreneurs. Our board members, advisors, sponsors and funders include some of the most influential voices in the tech sector and social sector.

At American Family Ventures, we understand that being a pioneer has its risks. But pioneers are the first to learn and to evolve, and the expertise that comes from that journey has never been more valuable. Insurance is entering a period of profound transformation. Anyone seeking to capitalize on this moment needs a partner to guide them. We’ve established ourselves as that venture partner of choice: for investors, for portfolio companies, and for startups in general. True partners. Real expertise. Welcome to American Family Ventures.

Manulife Financial Corporation is a Toronto-headquartered financial services institution founded in 1887, operating across Asia, Canada, and the United States. The company delivers life and health insurance, wealth management, investment management, retirement planning, group benefits, and retail banking services through subsidiaries including John Hancock in the United States and Manulife Bank. With more than 135 years of operation, Manulife serves millions of individual, family, and institutional clients across its three core geographic markets. The company's business model spans the full spectrum of financial services distribution, from individual insurance policies and retirement accounts to employer-sponsored group benefits and investment management mandates. Product lines include traditional life and health insurance, workplace benefits administration, retirement planning services, discretionary investment management, and commercial and retail banking solutions. This diversified revenue base allows Manulife to maintain positions across multiple customer segments and risk profiles within the financial services value chain. Manulife's technology infrastructure incorporates Salesforce for customer relationship management, Power BI and Tableau for business intelligence and analytics, and Excel for financial modeling and analysis. The company positions digital innovation as a core operational priority alongside its traditional financial strength, though specific digital product offerings or platform investments are not publicly detailed. Roy Gori serves as Chief Executive Officer.