The Employment Technology Fund

An Innovative Approach to Closing the Employment Opportunity Gap

The Employment Technology Fund (“ETF” or the “Fund”) is an innovative impact investing initiative of the New Venture Fund (“NVF”), made possible with funding from these leading foundations – The JoyceFoundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, and the Walmart Foundation.

ETF’s purpose is to invest in high impact, scalable technology solutions that help individuals find a path to employment and improve their earnings potential, careers, and livelihoods. The technology solutions span several market categories, including learning and training, mentoring and support, assessment and matching, and job search and placement.

The Fund targets innovative solutions that support the approximately 103 million low-income adults in the United States without a college degree, and its primary goal is to invest in these early-stage companies and non-profits as they scale to reach a wider audience and attract additional investment capital. The ETF will foster thought leadership and network support for these organizations, and share best practices and expertise among portfolio entities. It is seeking to engage with future investors to expand the pool of capital, to connect with dynamic companies and non-profits to invest in, and to cultivate partners to expand its network.

This white paper describes the history of the Fund and the groundbreaking collaboration among the four foundations and NVF, its structure and operations, and the investment criteria and process for making investments. It concludes with information on how to engage with the Employment Technology Fund as an investor, partner or company.