Arianna Huffington

Is Climate Adaptation VC-Backable? 🌱 Despite a $300B+ annual funding gap, climate adaptation remains a blind spot for most investors. So I asked Timothy Rann, GP at Mercy Corps Ventures, to break it down for us. Here’s what we covered: → Adaptation vs mitigation: why we need both → Why adaptation lags despite a $300B funding gap → Can you make money solving climate injustice? → ...and more! We also dive into real examples like PULA (climate insurance) and Meridia (land data), and how grants and blended finance unlock first-of-a-kind models. Want to dive deeper? 👇 📺 Watch on YouTube: https://lnkd.in/eJ86H98Z 🎧 Listen to the podcast: https://lnkd.in/eXkFwexJ Thanks for the chat, Timothy! 🙌 --- Brought to you by: Accelerating Impact. Thank you for supporting the show! 💚

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Karim Harji, this is an exceptionally clear and actionable playbook. It perfectly articulates the what and why of systems-thinking in impact investing. The move from "practical" to "stretch" goals across each lifecycle stage is particularly useful. The perennial challenge, however, is the how. How do you practically "reimagine processes" (Point 1), "evaluate multiple systemic dimensions simultaneously" (Point 2), or "align incentives" across a fragmented ecosystem (Point 4)? Traditional organizational and venture structures are siloed by design, making this integrated, systemic approach incredibly difficult to execute. This is where we see the need for a new operational model—an Emergent Economy—built from the ground up for this kind of work. We're building the protocol to operationalize this playbook. We form Venture Pods that are, by design, systems-thinking in action: They are the "Stretch Goal" for Strategy & Selection: Each pod unites the corporation (with the problem), the entrepreneurs (with the solution), the capital, and the talent from day one. This isn't just mapping connections; it's architecting the connections directly into the venture's DNA. They are the "Stretch Goal" for Portfolio Construction & Engagement: The pod structure inherently balances direct investment with deep ecosystem alignment, creating a shared stake in the outcome that naturally "aligns and coordinates" actors. They are the "Stretch Goal" for IMM: Value is measured not by a single exit, but by the pod's success in capturing the value of solving a systemic problem (e.g., $XM in waste reduced), creating a natural "system health indicator." Your playbook provides the essential strategic framework. Models like the Emergent Economy aim to provide the missing operational layer to finally execute it at scale. This is how we move from theory to transformative practice. Brilliant work. Downloading now. #SystemsThinking #ImpactInvesting #VentureCapital #EmergentEconomy #Innovation

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As a founder trained in both philosophy and physics, I’ve built a simple framework that helps ambitious applicants actualize their ideal visions. We focus on three strategic moves: mapping your competencies to program outcomes, reframing gaps as growth arcs, and quantifying impact with clear metrics. When combined, these tactics create a differentiated story that admissions committees can follow and endorse. I’ve seen this approach help early-career professionals and grad applicants sharpen their focus and improve outcomes—so if you’re aiming for a top MBA, master’s, or PhD program, let’s talk specifics. https://wix.to/0KwDvwo #AdmissionsStrategy #GradSchoolAdvice #CareerGrowth

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As founders, we often hear about the big wins and funding announcements, but rarely discuss the mountain of rejections that preceded them. The truth? Fundraising is a numbers game. Those polished pitch decks and perfectly rehearsed presentations will still face a wall of "no" before finding the right "yes." What separates successful founders isn't avoiding rejection—it's persisting through it. Remember: Every "no" gets you closer to the investors who truly believe in your vision. Have you experienced this fundraising reality? #StartupLife #Construction #Constructionindustry #Buildingmaterials

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⛰️ Why Climate Tech Founders Can't Afford to Ignore Fundraising Trends The fundraising landscape for climate tech is evolving rapidly, and staying informed isn't just helpful—it's essential for survival. In the past year alone, we've seen significant shifts in investor priorities, term sheet structures, and due diligence processes. VCs are increasingly focused on technical defensibility, regulatory moats, and clear paths to profitability. The "growth at any cost" mentality has been replaced by disciplined capital efficiency and milestone-driven funding. What's particularly striking is how climate tech investors are now demanding deeper evidence of market validation earlier in the process. They want to see not just promising technology, but proof of customer adoption and revenue traction. This shift means founders need to adjust their fundraising timelines and preparation strategies accordingly. The most successful climate tech founders I work with are those who treat fundraising intelligence as a core competency—they understand current market conditions, know which investors are actively deploying capital in their sector, and can speak the language of risk mitigation that today's VCs want to hear. Early stage climate tech founders: If you're navigating this complex landscape, join us for our upcoming Pachamama Ventures AMA session at 9Zero Climate Innovation Hub where we'll dive deep into the latest fundraising strategies, share real-world examples, and answer your specific questions. Register here: https://lnkd.in/dtMuACFT Let's build the future together—but let's do it with the right capital strategy. #Climatetech #Fundraising #Startups #VentureCapital #Sustainability

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Martin Cech and I had a lot of fun chatting with Andie Steinberg and Andy Slavitt from Town Hall Ventures this morning about some of their policy-related predictions for 2026. Given the backdrop of the 2027 Advance Notice being released yesterday, we had some interesting discussions about the implications of that news on the stability of the MA program, the opportunity ahead for VBC, the path forward in Medicaid, and the use of AI in clinical care. On that last point, I thought it was really interesting to hear Andy close with this rebuttal of an article in The Guardian this weekend. The article made the case that we shouldn't use AI for low-income populations: https://lnkd.in/gNnkjYn5 🔗 Check out our full conversation with Andie and Andy here: https://lnkd.in/g5Vk9PKi

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💡Emerging GP Fundraising Insight #6: Fundraising Playbooks Aren't One-Size-Fits-All If you're not part of a wealthy network from the start, stop following advice built for those who are. The tactics that work for GPs inside "networks of privilege" (family offices they already know, deep alumni networks) won't work the same for outsiders. You need a different playbook: • Lean into cold outreach • Build credibility in public • Show your differentiated edge clearly and early • Grind and get used to hearing "no" or nothing a lot Takeaway: Borrow strategies, but build for your starting line, not someone else's. If you've raised outside the "usual" networks, what worked for you?

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I rarely post, but from personal experience in the Robin Hood Foundation ecosystem — Blue Ridge Labs is life-changing for the right early-stage, mission-driven founders. If you're serious about a creating a business with real impact, it's definitely worth exploring. Applications close May 3.

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Excited to spotlight Apria Pinkett for this week's rising women in VC series! 📌Title: Investor 📌Fund: City Light Capital 📌Stage & Sector: We invest in early-stage rounds (pre-seed to Series A) across Education & Future of Work, Healthcare, and Climate. 📌What about AI most excites you? I’m excited by AI’s potential to level the playing field. When used responsibly, it can expand access to high-quality education, healthcare, and opportunity in ways that were never possible before. Coming from a background where access wasn’t always guaranteed, I find it inspiring to see technology being used to make systems fairer and more inclusive. The companies that excite me most are the ones using AI not just to increase efficiency, but to create equity. 📌What about AI gives you pause? I worry about the biases embedded in the data used to train AI and the way they shape what we treat as truth. One of the readings that has stuck with me over the years is Algorithms of Oppression by Safiya Noble, which highlights how digital systems can reflect the values and assumptions of the people who build them. It was one of the first things that made me question the idea that technology is objective. As AI becomes more embedded in decision-making, especially in areas like healthcare and education, I think it is critical that we design systems with transparency and accountability from the start.

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Maybe it’s old-fashioned, but at Adaptation Ventures we actually write our own newsletters - and my favorite part is looking across history, industries, and cultures to share insights about disability, innovation, and capital allocation. This past quarter, it was Ludwig van Beethoven, who composed his Ninth Symphony while profoundly deaf, turning constraint into creative advantage. The quarter before, it was “Crumbling Barriers: Graham Crackers and Growth Mindsets”: Paul Graham of Y Combinator and Benjamin Graham, author of The Intelligent Investor and Warren Buffett’s teacher and primary mentor - two very different, but deeply influential guides for founders and investors alike. Before that, we dug into Epictetus, one of history’s most influential Stoic philosophers, born into slavery nearly 2,000 years ago and disabled as a child, whose ideas still resonate with how resilient founders can navigate adversity. With the speed of information and constant innovation, it can be grounding to pause and explore how the themes of history apply to the modern world. As the saying goes, it may not repeat - but it often rhymes. If you enjoy this lens on disability, neurodivergence, and accessibility - our quarterly digest is for you. Check out the latest edition and sign up for the newsletter for the most timely access.

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Kevin Starr recently declared in SSIR that "there is no such thing as impact investing." He's right to name the comfortable fiction of the win-win: the belief we can solve poverty and climate collapse while delivering market-beating returns. But in a new piece I co-wrote with Aunnie Patton Power and Katie Boland, we argue his prescription doesn't go far enough. Starr proposes a binary: philanthropy takes risk, commercial capital takes scale. Philanthropy "de-risks" enterprises until they're ready to graduate into commercial markets. The problem? That graduation is a trap. When enterprises move into conventional markets, missions drift. Value flows to distant shareholders. Long-term resilience gets traded for short-term returns. Philanthropy becomes a subsidy for the extractive economy. We think there's a third path: stewardship and durable ownership. Instead of bridging companies toward extractive exits, patient capital can anchor them in structures that protect mission, distribute power, and retain wealth locally. Employee ownership trusts. Steward-ownership models. Community-governed platforms. Tools like revenue-based financing, redeemable equity, and patient debt aren't temporary bridges to the "real" economy. They're the operating system of a just economy. The question isn't whether impact investing exists. It's whether we're willing to build what comes after it. https://lnkd.in/gNdhCpyQ

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Female founders are only getting 2% of VC funding… So. We’re co-hosting the Women in HealthTech Pitch Tank this week! This is not your average pitch event. As many of our team have seen in the past, women don’t always get real capital allocator connections the same ways men do. We are here to change that. The difference here is - we educate so that when founders step into our pitch tank, they are prepared for the capital conversations. Preparation is the key to execution, and at DFX, we embed that into everything we do. This year, we’re showcasing 6 incredible founders who are breaking barriers in healthcare innovation - from women’s health to diagnostics, digital health, senior care, mental health, and beyond. Each of them has a vision that could transform the industry, and they’re stepping into the Pitch Tank ready to make it happen. Founders: Nancy Schoenbrunner— @AmplifiDx, Inc. Tanu J. — FlowCare Natasha A. Henry — MyoCurrent Therapeutics Mehek Bapna — Manglovo Health. Golafsoun (Goli) Ameri — Cosm Medical Jessica Queen — OMEDUS Alongside them, we’re bringing in 3 powerhouse capital providers who will share their expertise, vision, and resources: Naomi Goez, Principal at Forum Ventures Jasper, Venture Partner at MedStartr Ventures Veda Patel, Investor at Conductive Ventures Co-hosted by an ecosystem partner, the incredible Sabrina — CEO, PulsePoint Path

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💡 What if funding didn’t mean giving up control? In this HealthTech2Care Podcast clip, Chandler Journey Lewis, M.Sc breaks down how 360 Social Impact Studios built a funding model that starts and ends with founders in control—using a redeemable warrant that lets you buy back equity over time through a share of your revenue. No permanent dilution. No long-term debt. Just a structure that supports growth without compromising ownership. 🎥 Watch the podcast clip below 📺 Full episode in the comments 🔗 Contact 360 Social Impact Studios: https://lnkd.in/gPdqcF3d #360SocialImpactStudios #FounderFirst #StartupFinance #RedeemableWarrant #RevenueRedemption #HealthTech2Care

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Thrilled to be part of Cohort 5 of Hustle Fund’s Venture Fellowship — and honored to serve as Pod Lead for the 🏗️ Future of Work & Productivity vertical. We’re at a rare inflection point: the infrastructure of work is being rebuilt from scratch, and the products sitting on top of it are being redefined along with it. The winners won’t be the ones that added AI to old workflows or shipped the best feature set — they’ll be the ones that redesigned how work actually flows, and built the systems that make that possible at scale.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ This cohort is exactly who you want in your corner if you’re building in this space — operators, investors, and founders who live and breathe the future of work​: Christina Moro, Nate Pearl, Rob Steel 💪 If you’re a founder building in the future of work or productivity space, let’s talk 🙌

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Venture‑scale climatetech is hard. We’re asking founders to hit three moving targets at once: 🌎 Real climate impact (measured in tons, not tweets), 🌎 Compelling unit economics in markets that are often regulated, slow, or both, and 🌎 Scalable go‑to‑market that can attract institutional capital before you run out of time, money, or patience. Too many promising climatetech teams get stuck in the gap between prototype and project finance: the tech basically works, but the scale‑up story isn’t investible yet. The capex is heavy, sales cycles are long, customers are risk‑averse, and the “venture math” looks fuzzy to people who don’t live inside this space. If we want more fundable climatetech companies, we need to help founders design for bankability, deployability, and venture readiness from day one—not as an afterthought when the runway is already short. That’s exactly why we’re running the Venture Mechanics ClimateTech Scalathon at 9Zero Climate Innovation Hub in Seattle (May 1-3): a hands‑on, working session focused on turning promising climate ideas into scalable, financeable businesses with credible paths to venture scale. If you’re a founder, operator, investor, or corporate partner who wants to help more climatetech startups actually clear the funding bar, I’d love to see you there. Early bird tickets are live now — grab yours while they’re still available and help us build the next generation of truly investible climatetech companies. Only the time format is borrowed from hackathons, otherwise coding is not part of this exercise. It's more of an MBA business plan pitch competition rolled into one intensive weekend. Join a founder's team or build your own team from scratch on Friday evening (May 1st). Existing startups with only one or two founders can also join in a separate bracket, if they want to level up their strategy for scalability and fundability with the help of other experts and mentors from the Catapult Accelerator. https://lnkd.in/gTQhhXb7

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Most founders prepare extensively for growth. Very few prepare for how exit negotiations actually reshape risk. The Auris Health case remains one of the clearest illustrations of how valuation, language, and deal structure interact and how unintended consequences can emerge years after a celebrated exit. In this AEIOU Executive Briefing, we examine the negotiation dynamics, structural asymmetries, and decision patterns that founders rarely see until they experience them directly. Live Sessions: Wed, Feb 25 · 12 PM ET Thu, Feb 26 · 7 PM ET Registration link in comments. #StartupFounders #Exits #MergersAndAcquisitions #DealStructure

Each quarter, Adaptation Ventures publishes a digest on innovation in disability, neurodivergence, and accessibility - spotlighting the founders, policies, and products shaping this rapidly accelerating market. This past quarter saw incredible momentum across startups, capital markets, and cultural institutions leaning into disability-led innovation. Here are a few Q4 highlights: • Pitch applications for Adaptation Ventures are now open, making it easier for disabilitytech founders to connect with pre-seed capital without needing a warm introduction. • Disability and accessible technology continued to gain validation at Y Combinator, including companies like Kaigo Health (AI for caregiving) and AirCaps (AI for live captions and translation). • The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services launched a $2M AI and caregiving challenge, reinforcing the role of technology in supporting aging and disability. • Prosthetics leader Ottobock went public at a multibillion-dollar valuation, underscoring investor appetite for disability-focused innovation. • Adaptation team members shared the stage at hubs like ASU-SCIL’s Arizona AI Challenge, Multiple, The Frist Center for Autism and Innovation | Vanderbilt University, and Praxis Spinal Cord Institute, advancing conversations on neurodiversity, spinal cord injury, disability tech and founder best practices. For more highlights and the full breakdown of Q4, visit https://lnkd.in/ePvaURqQ and sign up for the Adaptation Ventures newsletter to get the most timely access to news, insights, and events.

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Too often, women’s health has been treated as niche, despite that we are primary users of the health system. Over 60% of femtech funding still goes toward fertility, pregnancy, and menopause. Yet the leading cause of death for women is cardiovascular disease. Neurological conditions—from depression to Alzheimer’s—disproportionately affect women. And still, care models don’t reflect our biology, our data, or our needs. At Bright Ventures, we believe this isn’t just a healthcare gap. It’s a generational investment opportunity. 🩺 Our latest report, Investing Beyond the Gender Gap: The Market Opportunity in Women's Heart and Brain Health, lays out where we see the greatest potential for innovation in women’s health: — Cardiovascular care — Neurology and mental health — Longitudinal, personalized, inclusive care models — Tech that’s built not just for compliance—but for outcomes We’re exploring platforms that utilize AI, passive data, and culturally fluent design to radically transform how women are diagnosed, treated, and supported, especially in the conditions that affect us most throughout our lifespan. Health equity is the foundation for more resilient economies, systems, and communities. We wrote this report for fellow investors, founders, and leaders who know the current system isn’t working and are ready to build something better. And if you're working in this space, we'd love to connect. Hats off to Nancy Y.A Sey, PhD Ilona Limonta-Volkova Aisha Taylor Oates and our partners Maia Monell Dani Savaria Ruffin Mitchener for their great work! 👇 You can access the full report in the comments below.

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