NewSchools Venture Fund

Founded in 1998, NewSchools Venture Fund is a venture philanthropy firm that seeks to transform public education, particularly for minority students in urban neighborhoods. NewSchools raises early-stage capital from institutional and individual donors, and invests it in nonprofit and for-profit ventures led by promising education entrepreneurs to create high-quality, scalable solutions that address the most critical problems facing education. NewSchools manages four funds. Fund I closed in 2002 and invested in organizations focused on creating and accelerating charter schools. The second fund closed in 2006 and invested in the following areas: Charter Management Organizations, School Support Organizations, Accountability and Performance Tools, and Human Capital. The third fund, which primarily focuses around several key cities, including New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Oakland, and New Orleans, closed in 2010 at $75 million. NewSchools Fund IV began in 2010 and includes the NewSchools Innovation Fund and the NewSchools City Funds.