URBAN OUTCOMES REPORT 2021
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URBAN OUTCOMES
REPORT 2021
B C
CONTENTS
SUSTAINABILITY 13
Trends 15 The Urban Innovation Fund
COVID reflections on Electriphi 17
Kyte case study 19 invests in startups shaping
LIVABILITY 23 the future of cities. We provide
Trends 25 seed capital and regulatory
COVID reflections on BookNook 27
PairTree case study 29 support to entrepreneurs tackling
our toughest urban problems –
ECONOMIC VITALITY 33
Trends 35 helping them grow into tomorrow’s
37
most valued companies.
COVID reflections on Ethic
Jeeves case study 39
1 22
THE FUTURE RE-IMAGINING THE LIVABILITY, SUSTAINABILITY,
& ECONOMIC VITALITY OF CITIES
OF CITIES
Sustainability
Urbanization is one of the most catalytic These startups are enhancing the livability,
trends of our time. 55% of the global sustainability, and economic vitality of our
population lives in cities – and that number cities. We’re proud to invest in them at the
is projected to hit 68% by 2050.1 As of 2018, earliest stages.
82% of Americans live in urban areas,2 up
from 50% in 1920.3 Based on thousands of startups evaluated,
we developed a framework around how Energy
COVID-19 has exposed some of the entrepreneurs are improving cities. This
vulnerabilities of density, but it has also “urban wheel” provides a common way to Transportation Food
opened people’s minds to what our assess the work of current and potential Systems
communities could and should look like. portfolio companies.
A new openness to bike lanes, remote work,
mutual aid, and grocery delivery are just the The Urban Innovation Fund invests in “smart
start. cities” sectors like transportation and energy.
We also invest in sectors enhancing the Proptech & Future
This is an exciting time to be investing quality of life and economic vitality of cities the Built of Work
in startups shaping the future of cities. (like education and fintech). Our expansive Environment
Consumers are more comfortable than ever approach helps us find game-changing URBAN
INNOVATION
with tech-enabled services, and businesses startups with the potential to touch the lives
and governments have used the past year of billions of city dwellers.
to overhaul processes and experiment with
new technology.
Edtech Govtech/
Civic Tech
Startups are emerging every day to tackle
massive city problems. These are the kinds
of problems that mayor’s offices around the
country are prioritizing, but unable to tackle
on their own. Think: education, small business Health Small
growth, electrification, etc. Business
Services
Public Fintech
Safety
Livability Economic
Vitality
3 4
OUR TEAM
“The Urban Innovation Fund has
been supporting us from day
CLARA BRENNER
CO-FOUNDER & MANAGING PARTNER one to now. Since they invested,
Clara is co-founder and Managing Partner of the Urban
Innovation Fund. Previously, she co-founded Tumml, a they helped us secure additional
startup hub for urban tech. Forbes has listed her as one of
its “30 Under 30” for Social Entrepreneurship and her work funding, hire top talent, and also
provided moral support, especially
energizing urban entrepreneurship has been featured in
numerous press outlets, such as MSNBC and The Wall Street
Journal. She serves on the Board of Tumml and the Local
Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) Bay Area Advisory
Committee. Clara earned her MBA from MIT Sloan and BA during this crazy time. In terms of
regulation, we have a business that
from NYU.
JULIE LEIN
CO-FOUNDER & MANAGING PARTNER is deeply ingrained in cities and has
Julie is a co-founder and Managing Partner of the Urban
Innovation Fund. Previously, she co-founded Tumml, a startup
hub for urban tech. In 2016, Living Cities named her as one of
blurred regulations around it - so
its “25 Disruptive Leaders” and her work in urban innovation
has been featured in numerous press outlets, such as CNN
they helped us navigate that.”
and The San Francisco Chronicle. She serves on the Board of
Tumml and Empower Work. Julie earned her MBA from MIT
Christelle Rohaut
Sloan and BA from Stanford.
JENIERI CYRUS
ASSOCIATE
Codi Co-Founder
Jenieri is an Associate with the Urban Innovation Fund
Previously, he served as an Associate at AEW Capital
Management, a real estate investment manager. Before
that, he worked as a Real Estate Analyst at HFF (acquired
by JLL). As a graduate student, Jenieri worked at venture
capital firms Benhamou Global Ventures, Green D Ventures,
Navitas Capital, and Dundee Venture Capital. He earned his
MBA from the Kellogg School of Management and BA from
Dartmouth College.
With special thanks to our former Senior Associate, Andrew
Felbinger, for helping compile the data for this report.
5 6
URBAN INNOVATION FUND
SNAPSHOT
PORTFOLIO OVERVIEW BY THE NUMBERS DIVERSITY
39
PORTFOLIO
$1.9B
ENTERPRISE VALUE
77%
WOMAN/PERSON OF COLOR
COMPANIES CREATED ON FOUNDING TEAM
5
YEARS OLD
$409M
CAPITAL RAISED
51%
IMMIGRANT
ON FOUNDING TEAM
HEADQUARTERED IN
18 CITIES, 7 US STATES,
4 COUNTRIES
64%
WOMAN/PERSON OF COLOR
ON BOARD
7 88
PORTFOLIO DIVERSITY TERM SHEET UPDATES
OUTCOMES
The venture capital industry suffers from We want to encourage our companies to
an extreme lack of diversity. The Urban take meaningful and specific steps to build
Innovation Fund is proud to play a role in diverse teams from the very beginning.
TRACKING GRAIN CO-FOUNDERS
pushing the industry to be more inclusive.
Our team believes diversity across
With that in mind, we have updated the
Urban Innovation Fund standard term
sheet to include language around Diversity,
CARL-ALAIN MEMNON, co-founders, employees, board members, Equity & Inclusion. We ask portfolio
CHRISTIAN JOSEPH and investors leads to better performance. companies to make all reasonable efforts
& PATRICK DE SUZA
With that in mind, we track our portfolio to build a diverse team. At a minimum,
diversity in our annual outcomes assessment. this includes applying the Rooney Rule
(the interviewing of diverse candidates)
As a 100% woman-owned firm, we are for all executive, manager, and board
Given the Urban Innovation Fund’s Over the last five years, the Urban particularly proud of the fact that 77% of positions. Since making this addition,
commitment to positively enhancing cities, Innovation Fund has invested in 39 startups our portfolio companies have a woman or we have received strong positive feedback
we conduct an annual assessment of our at the Pre-Seed and Seed stage. person of color on the founding team, and from a number of founders who appreciate
portfolio companies to measure: 64% have a woman or person of color on this clear statement of values.
Our startups have customers in all 50 US their board.
l DIVERSITY states, and some internationally. They’re
tackling a wide range of issues – including
METHODOLOGY
Team demographic trends, including Our goal is to continue improving and holding
literacy, small business credit, adoption, The Urban Innovation Fund conducted this
diversity of the founding team4 and ourselves to a high standard when it comes
micro-mobility, and beyond. Our year’s annual “Urban Outcomes” survey
the board to sourcing a strong and highly diverse
companies have created $1.9B in total between June and August 2021. Each
portfolio – across gender, geography, and
enterprise value and attracted $409M company’s responses are self-reported, with
l FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE other demographic factors. We believe the
in investment capital. the Urban Innovation Fund team overseeing
Investment capital, enterprise value first step is transparency and data analysis.
collection and data aggregation.
l JOB CREATION & QUALITY All results for exited companies are based
Tracking the number of full-time and on survey responses at the time of exit
part-time employees, benefits, and (in other words, we do not continue surveying
company ownership companies once they are acquired).
l URBAN REACH CURRENT STATE
Geographic reach of the customer base OF THE INDUSTRY
l OPERATIONAL METRICS
Firms owned by white men
currently comprise 98.7% of 91% of venture capitalists
are male6
91%
For each company, we pick two to three the $69 trillion managed by
the US asset management of VC-backed entrepreneurs
operational metrics specific to the are male7
business that we believe best capture industry5
80%
their urban outcomes
of VC-backed entrepreneurs
are white, 4% are Black or Latinx8
This report includes key observations and
takeaways from that survey.
9 10
“Electriphi is at the intersection of mobility, energy,
and enterprise software. And there are very few
investors who understand the complexities of
how all of these things interact and play with
each other. We love working with the Urban
Innovation team because they understand
these spaces and they know what it takes
to win in each of these segments.”
Muffi Ghadiali
Electriphi Co-Founder
11 12
12
SUSTAINABILITY
At the Urban Innovation Fund, we see a massive market opportunity
around improving the sustainability of cities. Urban areas are
responsible for about 75% of global CO2 emissions.9 Our portfolio
companies are building greener and more resilient cities, embracing
themes like electrification and the upgrading of inefficient legacy
industries.
13 14
14
SUSTAINABILITY
TRENDS
THE FUTURE WHY IS THIS A BIG DEAL?
What was once seen as a distant goal is UPGRADING WHY IS THIS A BIG DEAL?
Startups are increasingly veering into
IS ELECTRIC very real now. Deloitte estimates that 48%
of vehicles sold in China, 42% of vehicles LEGACY “real world” business sectors. Industry
incumbents are being forced to innovate,
sold in Europe, and 27% of vehicles sold in
the US will be electric by 2030.10 Beyond
2030, industry experts have predicted
INDUSTRIES both by improving efficiencies and by
creating higher corporate standards around
sustainability. This is largely being
that “battery-powered electric will likely driven by consumer expectations.
The electrification of vehicles become the most mainstream [new energy Traditional industries that
is happening – for commercial powertrain] globally.”11 have historically been slow to
as well as personal use. This innovate (real estate, car rental,
movement is driven by evolving URBAN INNOVATION FUND INVESTMENTS insurance, government services, URBAN INNOVATION FUND INVESTMENTS
consumer tastes, as well as The move towards electric has shaped a etc.) are undergoing significant The upgrading of legacy industries has
regulatory guidance in the US number of our investments, such as Electriphi
transformations in the face of informed a number of our investments,
(a software solution for electric vehicle fleets) such as Kyte (reimagining the rental car
and internationally. and Joyride (an all-in-one software platform COVID-19. This is being driven experience) and PairTree (modernizing the
to power micromobility fleets, many of which by automation and changing adoption process).
are electric). consumer preferences.
THE JOYRIDE
PLATFORM
THE JOYRIDE TEAM
15 16
16
URBAN INNOVATION
FUND PARTNERS AT
AN ELECTRIPHI
BOARD MEETING
was already robust, with over 120M vehicles COVID INFLECTION POINT
globally – 19% of which are projected ACQUISITION BY FORD
to be electric vehicles by 2030. Beyond
Ford acquired Electriphi in 2021 to serve as
2030, industry experts have predicted
the backbone of its new Ford Pro business
that “battery-powered electric will likely
line, focused on serving commercial
become the most mainstream [new energy
customers.
powertrain] globally.”12
“Customers have been clear – electrification
Third, we liked that Electriphi’s software-only
of their fleets is inevitable, with significant
product is asset-light and hardware agnostic.
economic and sustainability benefits. They
And the software is able to scale across
now need solutions that enable a seamless
ELECTRIPHI
customer segments – municipal, school bus,
COMPANY SUMMARY transition to electric vehicles,” observes
and commercial fleets.
Electriphi CEO and co-founder Muffi Ghadiali.14
Electriphi is a software solution for fleet
COVID REFLECTIONS operators to help manage the transition to
electric vehicles. Its asset-light approach
Fourth, we looked to California and European
emissions standards as a likely harbinger
The general public is increasingly on-board
with electric vehicles, and now the federal
saves fleets up to 70% in energy costs by of larger regulatory movement and consumer
government has stepped in to drive the
reducing operational and infrastructure costs trends around electrification. At the time of
economy in the same direction. In August
related to charging. The company works our investment, only 1% of vehicles on the
ENERGY with a variety of customer-types, including road were electric,13 so no company had yet
2021, President Biden issued an executive
order setting new emissions standards,
government agencies, school bus system won an outsized market share in the charge
as well as the goal that half of all new vehicles
STAGE operators, and private fleets. management space.
sold in 2030 would be electric.15 Automakers
Acquired by Ford now need to move quickly to deliver.
WHY THE URBAN INNOVATION
FUND LED THE SEED
NOTABLE CO-INVESTORS Ford, one of the largest US automakers,
Wireframe, Blackhorn Electrification is the future of the automotive
identified Electriphi as a potential
industry. The Urban Innovation Fund team
competitive advantage in its efforts.
Urban Innovation Fund II Investment had conviction around this early – at a time
when many investors considered market The Electriphi acquisition coincides “Commercial fleet operators are a crucial
FOUNDERS timing to be a big risk. We led Electriphi’s with Ford’s preparations to launch part of Ford’s customer base and its plan
Seed round in December 2019 for a few key
Muffi Ghadiali, Sanjay Dayal
reasons.
all-electric versions of two of the to get back on a firmer financial footing.
world’s most popular, high-volume Those same fleets are seen as key to the
DATE FOUNDED commercial vehicles – the Transit automaker’s plan to succeed in selling
First, we felt strongly about the team.
2018 van and F-150 pickup. The business electric vehicles. But going electric isn’t as
Co-founders Muffi Ghadiali and Sanjay
simple as swapping gas and diesel for a plug.
HQ LOCATION
Dayal brought a compelling combination unit overseeing the acquisition, It takes longer to charge EVs than to fill a fuel
of expertise in electric vehicles (EVs) and Ford Pro, estimates that this
San Francisco, CA tank and managing how, when and where
technology. Having worked at companies like acquisition will help Ford that happens is a whole new challenge for
ChargePoint and Amazon, they understood
WEB ADDRESS software and how to deliver a delightful
capture over $1B of revenue from fleets.”16
https://www.electriphi.ai customer experience. charging-related business by 2030.17
The Urban Innovation Fund is very excited
by this outcome. Electriphi now has the
Second, we believed the shift from diesel
opportunity to drive electrification at
combustion engines to electric powertrains
enormous scale – helping a major automaker
was going to transform the automotive
transition towards a more sustainable future.
industry. And the commercial fleet market
17 18KYTE CO-FOUNDERS
NIKOLAUS VOLK,
LUDWIG SCHOENACK &
FRANCESCO WIEDEMANN
COMPANY SUMMARY
Kyte is re-imagining the rental car experience.
The company aggregates unused vehicle
inventory from existing fleets and delivers cars
directly to rental customers. A customer can
KYTE
book a Kyte directly through its web platform
or native iOS app. Kyte utilizes gig workers
(“surfers”) to deliver the vehicle directly to the
CASE STUDY customer’s doorstep at the beginning of the
trip and to pick up the car at the end of the
trip. The company’s mission is to offer the best
car rental experience for consumers. Kyte first
launched in San Francisco in 2018 and has
TRANSPORTATION expanded to eight other cities – DC, New
WHY THE URBAN INNOVATION FUND
INVESTED AT THE SEED STAGE
CASE STUDY
York, Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, Boston, The following story is excerpted from a
STAGE Philadelphia, and Seattle. The Urban Innovation Fund team is always TechCrunch story entitled, “Kyte Wants to
on the hunt for new mobility models, and we Build the Foundation for Autonomous Rental
Series A
FOUNDER STORY were excited by Kyte’s potential to transform Car Delivery,” published in October 2021.19 It
the stale car rental experience. This dinosaur has been redacted for space and clarity.
NOTABLE CO-INVESTORS The Kyte founders – Nikolaus, Ludwig, industry suffers from terrible customer
Park West, DN Capital, Amplo and Francesco – have an impressive experience (a net promoter score of 34 is the Kyte, a fleet-logistics platform that allows
background in engineering, mobility, and industry average) and antiquated technology. customers to order rental cars delivered
Urban Innovation Fund II Investment operations. They’ve executed quickly Kyte is a radical departure from traditional right to their doors, has raised a $30M
and scaled the business to meet a surge rental car models. Its mobile-first interface Series A round. In the short term, the startup
FOUNDERS in demand for rental cars during COVID. makes it easy to reserve a car instantly, and wants to expand into new cities, countries
Nikolaus Volk, Ludwig Schoenack, Prior to Kyte, Nikolaus was a Software its magical customer experience keeps users and verticals, but the long-term goal is to
Francesco Wiedemann Engineer at Uber, where he built large-scale coming back, time and again. In addition build out a platform that can deliver vehicles
machine learning systems and infrastructure to being investors, we are also enthusiastic via teleoperation or an autonomous system.
DATE FOUNDED for driver safety, pickup experience, and users of the product.
2018 delivery models. Ludwig started his career
85
in consulting, working for both KPMG Vehicles today account for one-fifth of global
HQ LOCATION and McKinsey. Francesco was a Product emissions, and centralized fleets have the
San Francisco, CA Manager in Shared Mobility at BMW, potential to drastically reduce emissions
where he was responsible for launching through shared utilization.18 Technology
WEB ADDRESS several shared mobility services in the US layers connecting vehicle supply to consumer
https://drivekyte.com and China. The Kyte management team is demand like Kyte could be crucial to the
rounded out by COO Chandra Morando,
Users love Kyte - 85 Net
adoption of fleet-based transit. The company Promoter Score, compared
who has scaled operations at Zipcar, has the opportunity to play a critical role in
OFO bike share, and Bird.
to an industry average of
the transportation ecosystem by acting as the 34, and 4.6/5 star public
distribution layer for vehicle fleets at scale. rating20
19 20KYTE IN ACTION
“We still believe people own cars Ludwig Schoenack, one of Kyte’s three
co-founders, told TechCrunch the startup is
because they want it outside pursuing a business travel vertical, wherein
their door, so we thought why customers arriving in a new city might
don’t we put it right there.” arrange for their rental car to meet them at
their Airbnb or hotel. Kyte is also doubling
down on longer-term rentals, or rather
Ludwig Schoenack, subscriptions of up to 12 months.
Kyte Co-Founder21
Kyte’s fleet is somewhat limited to the cars
its partners are stocking. The company
To be clear, Kyte isn’t working on the software generally works with rental companies or
or hardware that will enable teleoperated or companies with large commercial fleets that
autonomous car delivery — there are plenty are being underutilized and gives them a
of companies already doing that, and Kyte second life on its platform. Kyte is beginning
says it’s in advanced conversations with to work more directly with manufacturers,
multiple companies in the space with the goal as well, both leasing and purchasing cars
of partnering on pilot deployments. Rather, through a leasing company it controls.
it wants to ensure its fleet management
system can connect to and enable future All Kyte vehicles, third-party and leased or
technologies. Kyte plans to begin testing bought from OEMs, live on the company’s
out teleoperated delivery in 2022 and bring “cloud parking infrastructure,” which are
a small subset of the fleet to one or two essentially like dark stores for car rentals —
markets by 2023. cheap pieces of real estate tucked away in
urban environments that are optimized for
But first, the company has to set up the delivery operations. At the moment, Kyte has
commercial use case, drive unit economics about one dark parking lot per city, with the
and enhance the customer experience for exception of larger cities like NYC and LA, in
rental car deliveries before it jumps into the which Kyte has multiple lots.
“sexy” part of the business model.
Because the Kyte model saves on overhead
Currently, Kyte operates in nine US cities, costs, the startup says it’s able to offer
including Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, services cheaper than the ZipCars and
Miami, New York City, Philadelphia, San Hertzes of the world, which has resulted in
Francisco, Seattle and Washington, DC. At profitable market operations.
the start of October, the startup expanded
beyond Manhattan and into Brooklyn. WHAT’S NEXT
Kyte positions itself as the solution for all Kyte is using the funding from its $30M
urban trips that are longer than general ride Series A to fuel expansion into 20 cities and
hailing. About 80% of its trips instantly leave hit profitability in each market quickly. Kyte
the city environment for a few days, so long envisions a world of shared electric and
weekend trips are Kyte’s bread and butter. autonomous fleets, where its consumer-facing
But as the company eyes expansion into app serves as the distribution layer.
more cities and, by next year, more countries,
it also looks to expand its use cases.
21 22
22LIVABILITY
Livability is what makes cities great. People want to find a good place
to live, educate their children, and feel safe. Each of these areas is ripe
for innovation - offering multi-billion dollar market opportunities for
startups.
23 24
24LIVABILITY
TRENDS
EDUCATION WHY IS THIS A BIG DEAL?
Much of the new excitement has been DATA WHY IS THIS A BIG DEAL?
We have been heartened to see
TECHNOLOGY driven by the pandemic. COVID-19 has
brought virtual learning and technology into
the forefront of education. Simultaneously,
PRIVACY government take action to support
data privacy and security via regulations
such as the General Data Protection
the pandemic has even more dramatically Regulation (GDPR) in the EU and the
Edtech is now a thing. For years, exposed disparities that exist between Public safety is an important California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA). At the
investors questioned whether children of different socioeconomic quality of any attractive same time, companies are just beginning to
education technology startups backgrounds. As a result, many school community. Increasingly, public figure out how to comply with these rulings,
were capable of growing into administrators and parents are embracing and this leaves everyday citizens vulnerable.
technology to improve the educational safety must include protection
billion dollar companies. With experience for all children. against cybercrime. Data
the pandemic, investors have breaches, phishing attacks,
changed their tune. The Urban URBAN INNOVATION FUND INVESTMENTS and digital blackmail are URBAN INNOVATION FUND INVESTMENTS
Innovation Fund has been active With that in mind, we have been excited to increasingly common. As a result, The goal of helping individuals protect
in this space for years, and back companies like BookNook (learning consumers and businesses are themselves against data stalking has
it’s exciting to see generalist software for students Pre-Kindergarten
demanding new tools to protect motivated a number of recent investments,
through grade 8) and codeSpark (coding such as Dataships (helping companies
venture capitalists starting for kids). themselves. automate their privacy compliance
to follow suit. while building healthy, transparent data
relationships with their customers) and
Malloc (a data privacy company providing
security for everyday people). We have also
been pleased to see portfolio companies
support each other around this issue. For
example, PairTree (a digital adoption
platform) deals with highly sensitive
customer data and now uses Dataships
to ensure it operates at a high standard
of customer care.
MALLOC CO-FOUNDERS
ARTEMIS KONTOU,
MARIA TERZI, &
LIZA CHARALAMBOUS
25
25 26COMPANY SUMMARY BookNook was founded by Michael students rebound after a year and a half
Lombardo, an education advocate whose of challenging remote learning. As a result,
BookNook is the technology platform that
life mission is erasing these achievement BookNook sales have exploded.
allows even the most resource-strapped
gaps. We were compelled by Michael’s
schools to deliver high quality English
passion for this issue, as well as his impressive To meet this growing customer demand,
and math lessons to PreK-8 students,
background in the space – he was previously BookNook has grown its staff to 79 people,
both remotely and in person. Its rigorous
the CEO of Reading Partners, a national while maintaining its goal of attracting a
instruction materials and software help
literacy nonprofit, which he grew to over workforce that reflects the diversity of
teachers reach students in a variety of
$30M in annual revenue. its customer base. 59% of BookNook’s
formats (one-on-one, small group, or whole
employees are women, and 47% are people
classroom). And its network of meticulously
We also saw the potential market opportunity of color.27
vetted high-quality tutors helps schools reach
for a high-quality technology platform to
students who need extra support. Founded in
cost-effectively reach millions of children. As
BOOKNOOK
2016, BookNook has quickly grown to partner
a result, the Urban Innovation Fund co-led
with hundreds of schools, school districts, and
the pre-Seed and Seed rounds in BookNook.
nonprofits across 32 states. Some notable “What I love most about BookNook
Since then, we have continued to back every
COVID REFLECTIONS customers include Atlanta Public Schools,
Chicago Public Schools, and Prince George’s
round of BookNook’s funding. is how easy it is to use. I don’t
County Public Schools. BookNook has
COVID INFLECTION POINT
have to worry about whether
received national recognition for its impact
EDUCATION REIMAGINED our reading instruction time is
on students’ reading ability and its unique
EDTECH equity-based pricing model.22 Originally, BookNook launched with a focus
being used well and whether
on in-class room reading instruction tools. the teaching is rigorous. My
STAGE WHY THE URBAN INNOVATION FUND When schools shut down at the beginning dashboard tells me everything I
LED THE PRE-SEED & SEED of COVID, there was a real question about
Series A need to know.”
BookNook started with a focus on reading. what this would mean for the company. But
NOTABLE CO-INVESTORS Literacy is core to student achievement. the team quickly pivoted to launch a remote
Reach, Better Ventures And, if students fall behind in reading by version of their platform and, by April Christine Hatcher,
elementary school, it creates a widening gap 2020, they were marketing this new tool to Principal, Riverside Elementary,
Urban Innovation Fund I Investment in life outcomes. The stats are grim – only 35% customers. They also used the pandemic San Pablo, CA25
of students overall and 21% of low income to experiment with additional offerings,
FOUNDER students can read proficiently by the fourth including math and a tutoring product –
Michael Lombardo grade.23 These numbers have remained connecting students to tutors around the
stagnant for years.24 country via a scalable tech portal.
WHAT’S NEXT
DATE FOUNDED SERIES A AND BEYOND
2016 And the results were dramatic. “BookNook
saw on average that kindergarten through In Q2 2021, BookNook raised a Series A led by
HQ LOCATION third-grade students were more than Reach Capital to fuel its expansion. BookNook
doubling the pace of their reading, going has grown its revenue more than 10x this past
Oakland, CA
from falling behind during the spring and year – clearly demonstrating product-market
summer of 2020 to catching up while using fit for its core reading and tutoring offerings.
WEB ADDRESS
BookNook in the fall.”26 It is now focused on rapidly growing sales
https://www.booknooklearning.com for those two products, as well as expanding
As the pandemic begins to wane, BookNook its offerings to include other subject matters.
is more sought after than ever. School BookNook’s goal is to deliver best-in-class,
districts around the country are desperate tech-enabled educational opportunities to
for cost-effective remediation tools to help all students in the US and beyond.
THE BOOKNOOK PRODUCT
27 28PAIRTREE CEO “Like us, our investors believe CASE STUDY
ERIN QUICK in the importance of supporting The following story is excerpted from
Biological and Adopting a TechCrunch story entitled, “PairTree
Speeds Adoption Process with an Online,
Families along with the Self-Matching Platform and $2.25M
Adoptees, because adoption Seed,” published in June 2021. 32 It has
is not a single transaction but been redacted for space and clarity.
a journey they’re taking over Making the choice to adopt, or to find
COMPANY SUMMARY the course of a lifetime.” an adopting family, is a legally complex,
PairTree is a digital adoption platform. emotionally taxing, expensive and
Its core product is a marketplace that creates Erin Quick, time-consuming process. PairTree aims
PAIRTREE ethical connections between adopting
families and expectant moms. Adoption is
a massive industry that suffers from a lack
Pairtree Co-Founder29 to make one part at least considerably
easier and faster with its online matching
platform where expectant mothers and
CASE STUDY of technology – the process is opaque, time hopeful adopters can find each other
consuming, and expensive. Additionally, the WHY THE URBAN INNOVATION FUND without the facilitation of an agency
market is dominated by religious institutions, INVESTED AT THE SEED STAGE or other organization.
many of which are discriminatory toward Adopting a child can be a wildly expensive
HEALTH same-sex couples, who are four times more and confusing process – for prospective
The path to adoption is different for everyone,
likely than heterosexual couples to have an but there are generally some things they
adopters, as well as for birth moms. At any
adopted child in their household.28 PairTree’s have in common: Once the process is
STAGE given time, “there are about 2M families
vision is to modernize the adoption started, it can take upwards of $50K and
Seed waiting to adopt in the United States — which
pro ce s s by b e coming the go -to over a year-and-a-half to organize a match.
means there are as many as 36 waiting
platform for any adopting family. While some of this comprises the ordinary
NOTABLE CO-INVESTORS families for every one child who is placed for
legal hurdles involved in any adoption, a
Founder Collective, Techstars, adoption.”30 The average cost of adoption
FOUNDER STORY big part of it is simply that there are limited
Stanford University ranges from $20K to more than $50K per
opportunities for adoption, and compatibility
PairTree CEO Erin Quick is a two-time family, including the costs of home study,
isn’t guaranteed. As many people considering
Urban Innovation Fund II Investment adoptive mom. She is driven by a desire to agency fees, legal, and medical expenses
adoption are doing so on the heels of
dramatically improve the emotionally and (among others). 31 The PairTree team is
unsuccessful fertility treatment, it can be
FOUNDERS financially fraught adoption process for working to create the go-to place where
a lot to take on and a dispiriting wait.
Erin Quick, Justin Friberg everyone involved. An executive with over families start the adoption journey. Their
20 years of global brand experience, she goal is to provide a service that helps families
DATE FOUNDED conceived of the business and then brought navigate adoption in a transparent way.
2020 on CTO Justin Friberg to help her build it. Justin PairTree has the opportunity to break down
29%
is the co-parent of a non-biological child and regulatory and geographic barriers, helping
HQ LOCATION a mobile engineer. facilitate more adoptions.
Seattle, WA
WEB ADDRESS The average age of a
https://pairtreefamily.com waiting child is 7.7 years
old and 29% of them will
spend at least three years
in foster care33
29 30Erin Quick, CEO and co-founder (with CTO high-level priorities in life. Think “wants to
Justin Friberg) of PairTree, said that the travel and learn” versus “wants to provide
modern adoption landscape is marked by and nurture” (not that these are necessarily
the fact that nearly 95 percent of adoptions incompatible) — they serve as important
are open, meaning there is ongoing contact indicators of preferences that might not
between a biological mother and adopting be so easily summarized with a series of
family. check boxes. That’s not the only criterion,
of course. Other demographic and personal
“They’ll be working together forever, and details are also collected.
that makes finding a highly compatible
match that much more important,” Quick, The adopters are added to a pool through
herself a happy adopter, told TechCrunch which expectant mothers can sift and,
in an interview. But because of the way if desired, contact (in this, Quick suggested,
adoption is generally done — through PairTree mirrors Bumble, where women must
THE PAIRTREE PRODUCT
agencies licensed by states — there are message first). PairTree also does basic due
limitations on how far anyone involved diligence stuff like identify verification and
can reach. confirmation of other important steps like
home studies.
“It’s so bound by geography,” she said. “It’s “These are small nonprofits; they don’t have WHAT’S NEXT
regulated at the state level and has been If a likely match is found, all the relevant a lot of tech chops. When we launched we PairTree’s vision is to provide transparency
facilitated by state level, not because of information is passed to the adoption went to attorneys first, actually, and we were around adoption, thereby significantly
state laws — there’s no rule saying you facilitator, who will be coordinating the surprised when agencies started reaching expanding access for families. Since
can’t adopt out of state — but because other legal and financial steps. PairTree out,” she explained. launching in July 2020, it has served 1.5K
the facilitators are small nonprofits. isn’t looking to replace these agencies — adopting families and facilitated 10 adoption
They bind themselves to their geographic in fact Quick said that they have been huge Agencies have been referring their matches on its platform. 90 percent of the
region because that’s what they can serve. proponents of the platform, since it can adopters to PairTree, which has led company’s viewership is mobile, so it is in the
We’re building a platform that makes what shorten wait times and improve outcomes. to a lot of early traction, Quick said. process of building a native mobile app. It
people are already doing much easier She said based on their existing successful And importantly, they’ve seen great diversity is also launching a home study product – a
and more efficient.” adoptions that the wait can be cut by in their early success. critical piece of the adoption process in all
half or even two-thirds, and thus the cost states, that is currently incredibly manual and
That platform is in many ways very much (which involves recurring payments as the “Adoption has historically been denied by slow.
like a dating app, though of course the agency searches and does the legal work) faith-based systems — LGBTQ families
comparison is not exact and does not by a similar amount. and single women have been subject to
reflect the gravity of choosing to adopt. discrimination,” she noted. And in fact just
But like in the dating world, in adoption last week a Supreme Court decision held up
23K 2M
you have a cloud of people looking to the right of religious adoption agencies to
connect over something highly dependent deny services to same-sex couples. Quick
on personality and individual needs. was proud to say that they have already
facilitated adoptions by same-sex couples
PairTree onboards both expectant mothers and single parents.
and adopters with personality tests — not Every year, about 23K Right now, there are about
the light-hearted stuff of OkCupid but children age out of foster 2M families looking
a broader, more consequential set of care without finding a to adopt in the US35
Jungian archetypes that signal a person’s permanent family34
31 32more
ECONOMIC
VITALITY
Cities are massive drivers of economic growth. But COVID has exposed
THE CODI TEAM
vast inequities across different sectors in the economy. The Urban
Innovation Fund is excited to invest in startups that are empowering
individuals, independent workers, and small businesses. We’re proud to
back entrepreneurs creating more economically vibrant communities.
33 34
34ECONOMIC
TRENDS
BUSINESS WHY IS THIS A BIG DEAL?
In response to the pandemic, we have seen IMPACT WHY IS THIS A BIG DEAL?
Impact investing isn’t a flash in the pan. In
TOOLS FOR an impressive array of new technology
products to support SMBs – expanding INVESTING the US alone, “sustainable investing” now
represents 26% of all investment assets
SMBS the social safety net for workers, speeding
up diverse candidate sourcing, connecting
companies to much-needed lines of credit, Impact investing means different
under professional management. 37
World-positive investment opportunities
are in high-demand – but not as easy to find.
etc. things to different people. But
Small and medium-sized there is a large and growing
businesses (SMBs) account for interest across investor types
approximately 48% of the US to align investment practices
economy and provide about 60M URBAN INNOVATION FUND INVESTMENTS
more closely with environmental,
URBAN INNOVATION FUND INVESTMENTS
jobs.36 At the same time, SMBs The incredible need for technology to
social, and governance (ESG)
With that in mind, we are excited
and self-employed workers buoy the SMB space has inspired a number
values. This spirit certainly drives
to back companies like Ethic (a tech-driven
of recent investments, such as Jeeves (a asset manager focused on sustainable
have been dramatically and global payment network for SMBs), Catch the work of the Urban Innovation investing) and Allocate (an investing engine
disproportionately impacted (benefits for gig economy workers), and Popl
Fund, as well as many of our for high quality and diverse private equity
by the pandemic. (the next generation of business card).
investors.
managers).
ALLOCATE
CO-FOUNDERS
HANA YANG
& SAMIR KAJI
35 36
36COVID INFLECTION POINT
MASSIVE GROWTH IN ASSETS
Ethic has grown from $2M in assets in
2017 (when we first invested) to over $1.3B
COMPANY SUMMARY in assets under management (AUM).40
Interest in impact investing has grown
Ethic is a sustainable, tech-driven asset
steadily over the last few years – but it
manager. Ethic’s technology platform
entered the mainstream dialogue like
creates customized public equities
never before during the pandemic.
portfolios optimized to match market
performance. There is massive – and
growing – demand for impact investing. According to the Global Impact Investing
Network (GIIN), “The global spread of
ETHIC
For example, “sustainable funds attracted
a record $51.1B in net flows in 2020, more COVID-19 has exposed the fragility of
than twice the previous record set in 2019.”38 economic and social systems, exacerbated THE ETHIC PRODUCT
long-standing social inequalities, and
COVID REFLECTIONS Ethic is accelerating the global transition
to sustainable investing. constrained businesses’ and investors’
abilities to operate effectively.”41 There is a WHAT’S NEXT
WHY THE URBAN INNOVATION FUND LED growing recognition that investors should SERIES B AND SCALE
THE SEED be trying to do more with their capital –
In late 2020, Ethic raised a $29M Series B
and now, with Ethic, they can.
FINTECH In the US, “sustainable investing”
now represents $12T (!) or 26 percent
led by Oak HC/ FT to accelerate its growth.
Ethic has built an impressive product,
of all investment assets under professional “Ethic’s technology prowess combined
offering both Ethic-defined and client-led
STAGE management.39 Sustainable investment can with educational materials, and its
sustainability models. While it has developed
Series B involve environmental, social, and governance reporting on the impact portfolios
key strategic partnerships with registered
(ESG) strategies like negative screening, are making, differentiate the platform.
investment advisors (RIAs) that manage
NOTABLE CO-INVESTORS positive screening, themed investing, and Financial advisors are using Ethic to have
billions of dollars, Ethic has only captured a
Oak HC/FT, Fidelity, Nyca, Sound shareholder action. conversations about sustainability with
small portion of their assets. The main priority
clients and growing their businesses in
now is harvesting existing clients, onboarding
Urban Innovation Fund I Investment However, sophisticated investors often struggle the process.”42
new clients, and rapidly increasing its AUM.
to find high-quality sustainable investment The focus is on delighting clients, continuing
FOUNDERS products. For example, ESG exchange traded Additionally, the Biden Administration
aggressive growth, and moving trillions of
Jay Lipman, Doug Scott, Johny Mair fund (ETFs) and mutual funds may not be as has taken a more proactive approach to
sustainable assets off the sidelines.
sustainable as they purport to be. Additionally, climate change and ESG matters. “The SEC’s
DATE FOUNDED they are inherently not customizable – so regulatory agenda, published in June 2021,
clients with a specific interest in, say, racial reflects the SEC Chair’s focus on ESG matters,
2015
justice will find it challenging to build a holistic including disclosures regarding corporate
56K
portfolio around this framework. board diversity, climate change, human
HQ LOCATION
capital management and cybersecurity risk
New York, NY governance.”43
As a fund, we have seen many of our investors
WEB ADDRESS struggle with this dilemma in the public
markets. We recognized Ethic’s opportunity
https://www.ethic.com Ethic has helped its
to help institutions shift their assets toward
ESG. And we felt the economic impact would clients reduce the carbon
be transformative – moving billions of dollars footprint of their investment
toward the environment, diversity in senior portfolios by 56K metric
management, human rights, etc. tons44
37 38JEEVES CO-FOUNDERS
SHERWIN GANDHI &
DILEEP THAZHMON
COMPANY SUMMARY
Jeeves is building a global payment network
for small and medium-sized businesses
(SMBs). Its mobile-first product empowers
SMBs across the globe with working
capital, as well as the tools to transact with
vendors across borders and in multiple
currencies. Jeeves’ credit cards are issued
JEEVES
locally and its continuous risk underwriting
model allows for larger monthly spending
limits and 24/7 spend visibility – all with
CASE STUDY zero fees and no personal guarantees.
The company is now live in 24 countries JEEVE’S CURRENT MARKET COVERAGE
(in Mexico, Colombia, the US, Canada,
the UK, and Europe), with plans to launch in
more countries in the coming months.
FINTECH “Every company is now becoming WHY THE URBAN INNOVATION FUND
LED THE SEED ROUND
FOUNDER STORY
a global company, and the
We were fortunate to meet the Jeeves
STAGE
Dileep Thazhmon and Sherwin Gandhi
service to employees in two team in early 2020 and to lead the Seed
Series B launched Jeeves with the mission of helping different countries requires round later that year. We were excited about
NOTABLE CO-INVESTORS
SMBs get access to credit. Both Dileep and two different systems. And then the opportunity to democratize access to
Sherwin have strong fintech roots, with someone’s got to reconcile that financial services for SMB ecosystems across
Andreessen Horowitz, CRV, Tencent experience launching prior companies and the globe. SMBs form the economic backbone
scaling software teams. Dileep previously system at the end of the month. of thriving cities. But they are often held
Urban Innovation Fund II Investment co-founded and served as COO of This has been a big reason why back by a lack of access to credit. Traditional
FOUNDING TEAM
PowerInbox – a personalized multichannel we’re growing so fast.” financial institutions ask for personal
messaging platform built for publishers – guarantees from founders and financial
Sherwin Gandhi, Dileep Thazhmon where he grew the team to 50+ employees and history that young businesses don’t have.
annual revenue to $35M. Prior to PowerInbox, Dileep Thazhmon, Unlocking credit for SMBs creates opportunity
DATE FOUNDED Dileep spent time at the product team at Jeeves CEO45 across the value chain – for new and
2020 PayPal and as an M&A consultant for Deloitte. growing businesses, for underbanked SMBs,
Sherwin started his career as a structured and for founders who lack the means
HQ LOCATION products trader at JP Morgan Chase, before to personally fund a new company.
50X
Austin, TX co-founding Andro Capital Management, a
$200M cross-currency hedge fund. There,
WEB ADDRESS he saw the pain points with multi-national
https://tryjeeves.com bu sine s se s op e rating in multiple
currencies. Dileep and Sherwin came
together to build the first cross-country, Jeeves has grown its
cross-currency global bank. transaction volume by
more than 50x since
January 202146
39 40CASE STUDY Thazhmon believes that the “biggest
The following story is excerpted from thing” the company is building out is its
a TechCrunch story entitled, “Fintech own global BaaS layer, that sits across
Startup Jeeves Raises $57M, Goes different banking entities in each country,
from YC to $500M Valuation in One and onto which the end user customer-facing
Year” published September 2021.47 It has Jeeves app plugs into.
been redacted for space and clarity.
The startup has grown its transaction
Last summer, Jeeves was participating volume (GTV) by more than 5,000% since “Definitely our best decision in
in Y Combinator’s summer batch as a January, and both revenue and spend
volume has increased more than 1,100% financial management since
fledgling fintech. This June, the startup
emerged from stealth with $31 million (11x) since its Series A earlier this year, we started the company, would
in equity and $100M in debt financing. according to Thazhmon. recommend it to anyone working
Jeeves now covers more than 12 currencies
with different currencies 100%.”
Today, the company, which is building an
“all-in-one expense management platform” and 10 countries across three continents.
for global startups, is announcing that it has Mexico is its largest market. Jeeves is Oriol Tintore,
raised a $57M Series B at a $500M valuation. currently beta testing in Brazil and Chile and Belvo Co-CEO49
That’s up from a valuation of just north of Thazhmon expects that by year’s end, it will
$100M at the time of Jeeves’ Series A, which be live in all of North America.
closed in May and was announced in early Thazhmon and Sherwin Gandhi founded
“We’re building an all-in-one expense as an investor, he concluded that they
June. Jeeves last year under the premise that
management platform for startups ranked “among the best founders in
startups have traditionally had to rely on
in LatAm and global markets — cash, fintech” he’d ever interacted with.
While the pace of funding these days is unlike financial infrastructure that is local and
most of us have ever seen before, it’s pretty country-specific. For example, a company corporate cards, cross-border — all run
with employees in Mexico and Colombia on our own infrastructure,” Thazhmon WHAT’S NEXT
remarkable that Jeeves essentially signed the
term sheet for its Series B just two months would require multiple vendors to cover its told TechCrunch. “Our model is very Jeeves has grown extremely quickly – since
after closing on its Series A. It’s also notable finance function in each country — a corporate similar to that of Uber’s launch model where our initial Seed investment a year ago, the
that just one year ago, it was wrapping up a card in Mexico and one in Colombia and we can launch very quickly because we don’t company has raised $181M in a combination
YC cohort. Jeeves was not necessarily looking another vendor for cross-border payments. have to rebuild an entire infrastructure. When of equity and debt from investors including
to raise so soon, but fueled by its growth in we launch in countries, we actually don’t Andreessen Horowitz, CRV, Tencent, and
revenue and spend after its Series A, Jeeves claims that by using its platform’s have to rebuild a stack.” Silicon Valley Bank. They’ve grown their
which was led by Andreessen Horowitz proprietar y B ank ing- as- a- S er vice customer base and monthly spend by 11X
(a16z), the company was approached infrastructure, any company can spin up Jeeves’ user base has been doubling every in less than a year. And they’re now serving
by dozens of potential investors and their finance function “in minutes” and 60 days and now powers more than 1K customers across three continents. But, the
offered multiple term sheets, according get access to 30 days of credit on a true companies across LatAm, Canada and company’s goals are even more ambitious
to CEO and co-founder Dileep Thazhmon. corporate card (with 4% cash back), non Europe, including Bitso, Kavak, RappiPay, – including expanding their geographic
Jeeves moved forward with CRV, which card payment rails, as well as cross-border Belvo, Runa, Moons, Convictional, Muncher, footprint and providing 5X the credit over
had been interested since the A and built payments. Customers can also pay back Juniper, Trienta, Platzi, Worky and others, the next year.
a relationship with Thazhmon, so it could in multiple currencies, reducing FX according to Thazhmon. The company says
further accelerate growth and launch (foreign transaction) fees. it has a current waitlist of over 15K.
in more countries, he said.
For example, a growing business can use a Former a16z partner Matt Hafemeister
Jeeves card in Barcelona and pay it back in was so impressed with what Jeeves is
euros and use the same card in Mexico and building that in August he left the venture
pay it back in pesos, reducing any FX fees capital firm to join the startup as its head
and providing instant spend reconciliation of growth. In working with the founders
across currencies.
41 42“Urban Innovation Fund has believed in us first
and foremost. In addition to our mission of extending
affordable access to credit to the general population,
we are also on a mission to change the face of Silicon
Valley. We don’t match the pattern of what a typical
Silicon Valley company looks like. And we embrace that.
We love that. And we are trying to pave the way for
people who come behind us as well because,
as we do well, it creates another pattern
for other investors to follow.”
Patrick De Suza
Grain Co-Founder
43 44
44UNITED NATIONS The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) outline
a road map to make the world better for people and our planet
SUSTAINABLE by 2030.48 This year, we mapped out the Urban Innovation
Fund I & II portfolio startups, tying them to 15 of the 17 SDGs.
DEVELOPMENT GOALS While the Urban Innovation Fund portfolio companies do not
officially report their SDG-related performance, we believe our
companies are working on problems that touch a number of the
SDGs. We are proud that our startups are working to improve
the lives and prospects of city dwellers across the globe.
No Poverty Zero Hunger Good Health Quality Education Gender Equality Clean Water Affordable Decent Work &
& Well-Being & Sanitation & Clean Energy Economic Growth
Catch, Ethic Ethic BookNook, Allocate, Ethic,
Ethic, Monarch, codeSpark, Milk Stork, Pairtree APANA, DropCountr, Electriphi, Ethic Catch, Ethic,
OpenLattice, Pairtree Ethic, Milk Stork Ethic Grain, Jeeves
Industry, Innovation & Reduced Inequalities Sustainable Cities Responsible Life Below Water Life on Land Peace, Justice &
Infrastructure Allocate, Builders & Communities Consumption & Ethic Ethic Strong Institutions
Builders Patch, Patch, Catch, Ethic Builders Patch, Production Dataships, Malloc,
curbFlow, Electriphi, Bumblebee Spaces, Ethic, Joyride OpenLattice, Voatz
Ethic, Jeeves, udelv Ethic, Joyride, Kyte,
Ride Report, Voatz
45 46
46We are proud to back entrepreneurs
who are using technology to shape
the future of cities, and we are
grateful to our investors who are
supporting this important mission.
WWW.URBANINNOVATIONFUND.COM
47
47 48
48END NOTES IMAGE SOURCES
1 “Thriving Amid Turbulence: Imagining the Cities of the Future,” McKinsey: Page Source
https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/public-sector/our-insights/thriving-amid-turbulence-imagining-the-cities-of-the-future
2 “World Urbanization Prospects 2018,” United Nations: https://population.un.org/wup/Publications/Files/WUP2018-Highlights.pdf Cover Sean Pavone, iStock
3 “United States Summary: 2010, Population and Housing Unit Counts,” US Census Bureau: https://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/cph-2-1.pdf 2 Abigail Keenan, Unsplash
4 The Urban Innovation Fund defines a “founding team” member as a founder or C-level executive on the cap table pre-Series A 4 Patrick Robert Doyle, Unsplash
5 “Investment Management is Overwhelmingly Dominated By White Men – And It’s Costing You Money,” Fortune: 5 Urban Innovation Fund
https://fortune.com/2020/06/19/investment-management-diversity-hedge-funds-mutual-funds-real-estate-pe-private-equity/ 6 Codi
6 “Diversity in Innovation,” Harvard Business School: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20Files/17-067_b5578676-e44c-40aa-a9d8-9e72c287afe8.pdf 8 Simone Hutsch, Unsplash
7 “Diversity in Innovation,” Harvard Business School: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20Files/17-067_b5578676-e44c-40aa-a9d8-9e72c287afe8.pdf 9 Grain
8 “Diversity in Innovation,” Harvard Business School: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20Files/17-067_b5578676-e44c-40aa-a9d8-9e72c287afe8.pdf 12 Electriphi
9 “Cities and Climate Change,” UN Environment Programme: https://www.unep.org/explore-topics/resource-efficiency/what-we-do/cities/cities-and-climate-change 14 Ford
10 “Electric Vehicles,” Deloitte Insights: https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/focus/future-of-mobility/electric-vehicle-trends-2030.html 15, 16 Joyride
11 The Future of Commercial Vehicles,” BCG: https://www.bcg.com/publications/2019/future-commercial-vehicles.aspx 17 Urban Innovation Fund
12 The Future of Commercial Vehicles,” BCG: https://www.bcg.com/publications/2019/future-commercial-vehicles.aspx 19, 20, 22 Kyte
13 “The Grim State of Electric Vehicle Adoption in the US,” CityLab: 24 Giovaanni Gagliardi, Unsplash
https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2018/10/where-americascharge-towards-electric-vehicles-stands-today/572857/ 25 Malloc
14 “Ford Acquires Electriphi to Provide Ford Pro Commercial Customers with Seamless Charging and Energy Management,” 27 Kuanish Reymbaev, Unsplash
Electriphi Website: https://www.electriphi.ai/news/ford-acquires-electriphi 28 BookNook
15 “Biden Seeks to Make Half of New US Auto Fleet Electric by 2030,” 29, 32 Pairtree
Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/biden-set-target-50-evs-by-2030-industry-backs-goal-2021-08-05/ 34 Codi; Jackson Hayes, Unsplash
16 “Ford Acquires Electriphi to Provide Ford Pro Commercial Customers with Seamless Charging and Energy Management,” 36 Allocate
Electriphi Website: https://www.electriphi.ai/news/ford-acquires-electriphi 37, 38 Ethic
17 “Ford Acquires Electriphi to Provide Ford Pro Commercial Customers with Seamless Charging and Energy Management,“ Ford Website: https://media.ford.com/content/ 39, 40, 41 Jeeves
fordmedia/fna/us/en/news/2021/06/17/ford-acquires-electriphi.html 44 Grain
18 “Car Emissions and Global Warming,” UCSUSA: https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/car-emissions-global-warming#:~:text=Car%20Emissions%20 45, 46 United Nations
and%20Global%20Warming&text=Our%20personal%20vehicles%20are%20a,for%20every%20gallon%20of%20gas. 47 Hari Nandakumar, Unsplash
19 “Kyte Wants to Build the Foundation for Autonomous Rental Car Delivery,” TechCrunch: https://techcrunch.com/2021/10/06/kyte-wants-to-build-the-foundation-for-autono
mous-rental-car-delivery/
20 Kyte Series A Deck, May 2021, with updates provided by the Kyte team
21 “Kyte Raises $9M to Deliver Rental Cars to your Doorstep,” TechCrunch: https://techcrunch.com/2021/01/05/kyte-raises-9-million-to-deliver-rental-cars-to-your-doorstep/
22 “BookNook Announces Additions to its Board of Directors,” PR Newsire:
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/booknook-announces-additions-to-its-board-of-directors-301327080.html
23 “Case Study - BookNook: Performing with Purpose through a Pandemic,” UCLA Anderson School of Management, Page 4
24 The Literacy Challenge,” Reading Partners Website: https://readingpartners.org/the-literacy-challenge/
25 “Homepage,” BookNook Website: https://www.booknooklearning.com/
26 “Case Study - BookNook: Performing with Purpose through a Pandemic,” UCLA Anderson School of Management, Page 3
27 BookNook Update Presentation, October 2021
28 “10 Gay Adoption Facts that You Need to Know,” Considering Adoption: https://consideringadoption.com/adopting/can-same-sex-couples-adopt/gay-adoption-facts/
29 “PairTree Speeds Adoption Process with an Online, Self-Matching Platform and $2.25M Seed,” TechCrunch:
https://techcrunch.com/2021/06/23/pairtree-speeds-adoption-process-with-an-online-self-matching-platform-and-2-25m-seed/
30 “How Many Couples are Waiting to Adopt a Baby?“ American Adoptions: https://www.americanadoptions.com/pregnant/waiting_adoptive_families
31 “What I Spent to Adopt My Child,” New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/11/parenting/adoption-costs.html
32 “PairTree Speeds Adoption Process with an Online, Self-Matching Platform and $2.25M Seed,” TechCrunch:
https://techcrunch.com/2021/06/23/pairtree-speeds-adoption-process-with-an-online-self-matching-platform-and-2-25m-seed/
33 Surprising Facts You May Not Know About Adoption,” Good Housekeeping: https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/parenting/a35860/adoption-statistics/
34 Surprising Facts You May Not Know About Adoption,” Good Housekeeping: https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/parenting/a35860/adoption-statistics/
35 “How Many Couples are Waiting to Adopt a Baby?“ American Adoptions: https://www.americanadoptions.com/pregnant/waiting_adoptive_families
36 “Tracking US Small and Medium-Sized Business Sentiment During COVID-19,” McKinsey:
https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/financial-services/our-insights/tracking-us-small-and-medium-sized-business-sentiment-during-covid-19
37 “GSIA Report Finds Increase in Sustainable Investing” SDG Knowledge Hub: https://sdg.iisd.org/news/gsia-report-finds-increase-in-sustainable-investing/
38 “Sustainable Funds US Landscape Report,” Morningstar: https://www.morningstar.com/content/dam/marketing/shared/pdfs/Research/Sustain
able_Funds_Landscape_2021.pdf?utm_source=eloqua&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=&utm_content=27482
39 “GSIA Report Finds Increase in Sustainable Investing” SDG Knowledge Hub: https://sdg.iisd.org/news/gsia-report-finds-increase-in-sustainable-investing/
40 “Harry and Meghan Get into Finance,” The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/12/business/dealbook/harry-meghan-ethical-investors.html?smid=tw-ny```
times&smtyp=cur
41 “The Impact Investing Market in the Context of COVID,” The Global Impact Investing Network:
https://thegiin.org/assets/The%20Impact%20Investing%20Market%20in%20the%20COVID-19%20Context_Investor%20Support%20of%20Enterprises_webfile.pdf
42 “RIAs Lift Ethic to ‘Escape Velocity’ and Past $1 Billion Under Management,” RIA Intel:
https://www.riaintel.com/article/b1s3g23pjgn5nm/rias-lift-ethic-to-escape-velocity-and-past-$1-billion-under-management
43 “ESG in 2021 So Far: An Update,” JDSupra: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/esg-in-2021-so-far-an-update-6642887/
44 Ethic Homepage: https://www.ethic.com/
45 “Jeeves Emerges From Stealth With $131M in Debt and Equity and A16Z as a Lead Investor,” TechCrunch:
https://techcrunch.com/2021/06/02/fintech-jeeves-emerges-from-stealth-with-131m-in-debt-equity-from-a16z-yc-and-a-bunch-of-unicorn-ceos/
46 “Fintech Startup Jeeves Raises $57M, Goes from YC to $500M Valuation in One Year,” TechCrunch:
https://techcrunch.com/2021/09/02/fintech-startup-jeeves-raises-57m-goes-from-yc-to-500m-valuation-in-one-year/
47 “Fintech Startup Jeeves Raises $57M, Goes from YC to $500M Valuation in One Year,” TechCrunch:
https://techcrunch.com/2021/09/02/fintech-startup-jeeves-raises-57m-goes-from-yc-to-500m-valuation-in-one-year/
48 “The 17 Goals,” United Nations Website: https://sdgs.un.org/goals
ADDITIONAL NOTES
The large format quotes on pages 6, 11, and 43 come from interviews performed by the Urban Innovation Fund with this entreprneurs during the Summer of 2020. The MSNBC quote on page
comes from a segment entitled “Where’s the Money? 21st Century Solutions” (https://www.msnbc.com/your-business/watch/where-s-the-money-21st-century-solutions-751766595883).
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