Impact Fund
The Impact Fund’s mission is to focus on supporting and bolstering minority business ownership primarily through capital investment and strategic advisement. With the use of our human capital and financial capital, VVF looks to expand businesses with their operational and growth strategies while fostering two-way relationships.
1
ViuHealth
Founded by Kwaku Owusu and Melanie Igwe, DrugViu works with autoimmune patients, pharmaceutical companies, and academic research institutions to advance health outcomes for people of color. Minorities make up less than 10% of clinical trial participants despite making up roughly 40% of the U.S. population, and common drugs affect minorities differently than their White counterparts.
ViuHealth bridges this gap in data by matching autoimmune patients with ongoing clinical trials, and collecting and providing autoimmune drug response data from underrepresented patients to pharmaceutical companies and academic partners.
2
Golde
Golde was founded by Trinity Mouzzon Wofford and Issey Kobori in 2016 with the purpose of providing high quality, organic products at accessible prices. Wofford and Kobori viewed the product offerings in the traditional wellness market as a tradeoff between affordability and quality, and aimed to make the wellness community more inclusive.
Golde’s first product was a Turmeric Tonic Blend priced at $29, and the SKU’s have expanded to include Matcha Blends, Super-Ades, and skin-care products which are offered DTC and through Golde’s retail channels
3
Upful.ai
Upful was founded in February 2020 by Shirin N (MS, MBA). A part of the Techstars Summer Class of 2022, Upful is a SaaS company that provides performance review feedback and executive coaching to reduce prevalent biases. With over 85% of employees feeling as though their most recent review was inaccurate, work environments need a solution like Upful to bolster inclusivity and reduce high voluntary turnover costs.