The Divergent Impact Fund

The Power of Different.

What We Do

Innovate

More than any time in history, private sector innovation has the potential to dramatically improve life outcomes for people with disabilities and neurodivergence but the current ecosystem for neurodiversity and disability innovation is under capitalized, relative to the enormity of the market and impact opportunity.

Amplify

The Divergent Impact Fund fills this innovation gap by providing access to capital and resources to early-stage founders with bold ideas to improve life outcomes for people with disabilities and neurodivergence.

Fund

Founders receive funding in the form of a non-dilutative recoverable grant and access to mission aligned follow-on investors.

Incubate

Founders develop their ventures through an incubator program specifically designed for neurodivergence and disability focused startups.

Mentor

Founders are matched with vetted industry and subject matter advisors to provide the networks and knowledge needed to scale their ventures into global businesses

Our Ventures

Join The Movement

We support founders anywhere on the continuum of early stage venture development.

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To qualify for support solutions must clearly benefit people with disabilities and neurodivergence. Ventures must be for-profit, have a viable path to scale and profitability, and are creating solutions based on universal design principles.

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If this sounds like you hit us up and let's change the world together.

JoiN The Movement

Support The Movement

The Divergent Impact Fund operates at the intersection of venture capital, venture philanthropy and social entrepreneurship and is supported by Realize Impact, a Registered 501(c)(3) public charity (EIN: 46-3594732) that provides fiscal sponsorship of the charitable activities of mission-driven organizations like ours.

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Contributions are tax deductible and we accept contributions from individuals, family offices, companies, donor-advised funds, foundations, and charitable trusts.

CONTRIBUTE TO The Movement

FAQs

How does fiscal sponsorship work?

The Divergent Impact Fund has a legally binding fiscal sponsorship agreement with Realize Impact, a Registered 501(c)(3) public charity (EIN: 46-3594732) that provides fiscal sponsorship of the charitable activities of mission-driven organizations like ours. Nonprofit fiscal sponsorship is an IRS approved legal arrangement in which an established 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization agrees to support a charitable endeavor that does not have its own nonprofit status. The sponsored project remains a separate legal entity. The fiscal sponsor receives and processes donations, then issues grants to the project for its charitable activities. The project manages its own operations. According to the Chronicle of Philosophy,a leading U.S. company covering the nonprofit sector, foundations, fundraising and charitable giving, fiscal sponsorship is a common and increasingly innovative model for new and established organizations seeking to achieve charitable goals without the burden of obtaining independent 501(c)(3) status.

Is The Divergent Impact Fund an incubator?

Yes. The Divergent Impact Fund programming is modeled on best practices for incubating early stage pre-seed ventures.

We provide critical resources that address common reasons for startup failure:

Mentorship and Guidance: Access to experienced mentors helps founders avoid common pitfalls and make more strategic decisions.
Structured Learning: Intensive learning, particularly regarding market fit, business models, and fundraising strategies.
Networking: Connections with investors, potential partners, and a peer community, providing a valuable support system.
Access to Capital: relationships with investors, increasing a startup's chances of securing initial and follow-on funding.

What is the criteria for selecting founders for support?

Divergent Impact Fund selects fellows based on the applicant's bold, innovative idea, their leadership abilities, and their commitment to disability and neurodivergent empowerment.

We support early stage pre-seed Founder. An early-stage pre-seed startup is a company at its initial concept stage, before it has a fully developed product or meaningful revenue. This stage is focused on validating the idea, building an initial team, and creating a minimum viable product (MVP) to lay the groundwork for future growth and to attract the next round of funding, known as a seed round.

What is a recoverable grant?

Founders receive funding from the Divergent Impact Fund in the form of a non-dilutative recoverable grant. A recoverable grant is a financial grant where all or part is returned if certain financial milestones are achieved. Recoverable grants are different from a charitable grant in that grantors hope to get their money back to recycle the capital into future social impact projects. Recoverable grants are different from loans in that they are forgivable and are not repayable unless the recipient company is financially successful.

Why support for-profit ventures?

Our community needs private sector innovation now more than ever. Unlike non-profits that often rely exclusively on fundraising, for-profit ventures can attract capital from investors seeking both a return on investment and a positive impact. This access to capital can accelerate the development of groundbreaking technology and services that change people's lives.