Why This VC Fund is Investing in Design
Every other year, the Danish nonprofit Index gives away about $550,000 in prize money. The winners: people who have designed solutions to life-altering problems like health and hunger. But the organizers got to thinking: Could they accomplish more? “What could we do with this volume of design solutions -- and the budding design entrepreneurs looking to build?” says Liza Chong, the nonprofit’s director of strategy and development. “Could we work with them and scale them and help them grow?”

Their answer: Yes, they could. Now they’re doing it with Danish Ventures, a fund that aims to raise $45 million in coming months, and that will invest $750,000 to $2.25 million into worthy projects. It will start by considering Index nominees, but with an eye toward the operation behind the design. “We want scalable companies that can target some of the world’s biggest problems,” Chong explains. Plus, this is a moneymaking enterprise, not charity work: “We want to show that profit can be made from purposeful companies.”
Continue reading this article - and everything on Entrepreneur!
Become a member to get unlimited access and support the voices you want to hear more from. Get full access to Entrepreneur for just $5.
Entrepreneur Editors' Picks
-
These Co-Founders Are Using 'Quiet Confidence' to Flip the Script on Cutthroat Startup Culture and Make Their Mark on a $46 Billion Industry
-
My 7-Year-Old Daughter Started Selling Eggs. Here's What She Taught Me About Running a Startup.
-
Why You Need to Become an Inclusive Leader (and How to Do It)
-
Career Transitions You Can Make in Your 40s and 50s
-
Billionaire Naveen Jain Is an Expert at Disrupting Fields He Has No Experience In. His Secret Sauce for Building Multi-Million Dollar Companies? 'You Have to Come as Naive.'
-
4 Principles to Develop Next-Level Leadership at Your Company
-
This Filipino American Founder Is Disrupting the Beverage Aisle by Introducing New Flavors to the Crowded Bubbly Water Market