60
CONTRARIANIMPACTINVESTINGFORBES.COM OCTOBER 20 20side. She accepted but said she needed time to
get her life back—she had to learn to walk again.
Within a few months, Novogratz was back work-
ing at TED. “It was way too early,’’ she admits
now. “I didn’t know how to stop pushing. It was
my identity.” Finally, she says, a TEDx confer-
ence scheduled for Doha, Qatar, made her take a
step away. “I couldn’t even walk on sand, and I
had agreed to lead workshops in a desert. It was
nuts.” She bought a ticket to the Netherlands,
where she and Velings started to build a life and
company together.
The duo picked aquaculture because few inves-
tors cared about this big and troubled market.
Some fish farms were actually compounding the
problem of overfishing in the wild by using wild
fish as feed. More sustainable farming operations,
to the extent they existed, “were selling to really
small upscale markets at a premium” and had
little access to outside capital, Novogratz says.
They had met with dozens of potential investors
in Silicon Valley and Europe and were eyeing a
September 2013 formal fundraising launch when
tragedy struck again. Novogratz gave birth to
their first child in July 2013, and the infant died
just a month later. The launch was postponed—
but not for long. By the end of 2014, Novogratz
had given birth to a second child (she and Vel-
ings now have three healthy kids), and the couple
had commitments for more than $8 million from
26 investors. They covered initial operating costs
with $4 million of their own money.
The two of them aim eventually to have 60 to
80 companies in the Aqua-Spark portfolio, more
than three times their current roster. Early on,
they worried there might not be a big enough
pipeline of investable businesses; now they’re ac-
tively tracking at least 1,550.
Despite her disabilities, Novogratz has thrown
herself into searching out prospects, climbing
down boat ladders in Vietnam and walking on
feeding platforms above crocodile-infested wa-
ters in Mozambique: “Sometimes I back away,
but mostly I push myself through it.”
Although the pandemic currently prevents
them from making such on-site visits, Novogratz
and Velings are undeterred, doing their due dili-
gence remotely. “Everything that is behind us is
pushing us forward,’’ she says.FINAL THOUGHT
“DIFFICULTIES STRENGTHEN
THE MIND, AS LABOR
DOES THE BODY.”
—Seneca the YoungerPierre Omidyar
Area of impact: International
Seeking to invest $300 million by
2024, Omidyar’s VC firm, Flourish,
funds fintech companies in the
U.S. and emerging markets to
provide banking opportunities for
low-income communities.
Nancy Pfund
Area of impact: Diversified
More than 50% of the companies
in which Pfund’s venture-capital
firm, DBL Partners (short for
“Double Bottom Line”), invests
have a female founder or a woman
in the C-suite.
Laurene Powell Jobs
Area of impact: Diversified
Through her Emerson Collective,
she co-led a $7.5 million round
for Syndio, a human-resources
analytics platform working to
eradicate pay gaps stemming
from gender and race.
Liesel Pritzker Simmons
Area of impact: Diversified
Her impact investing–focused
Blue Haven Initiative backs
companies such as Field
Intelligence, which assists
pharmacies in Africa with
financing and distribution.
George Roberts
Area of impact: Diversified
A pioneer of venture philanthropy,
the Roberts Economic Develop-
ment Foundation recently
launched a $1.3 million impact
lending fund to back social
enterprises.
Valerie Rockefeller &
Family
Areas of impact: Environment,
Poverty/Inequality
Their Rockefeller Brothers Fund
has committed $203 million to
impact investments in areas
including climate change and
sustainable agriculture.
Eric & Wendy Schmidt
Area of impact: Environment
The couple has invested nearly
$40 million in companies through
their foundation, including Navajo
Power, which develops solar-
energy projects for tribal lands.
Ruth Shaber
Area of impact: Health Care
The California obstetrician’s
Tara Health Foundation has
invested more than $70 million
in companies that help improve
women’s health.
Jeff Skoll
Area of impact: Environment
His Capricorn Investment Group,
with $5.2 billion in assets, backs
outfits working on clean energy,
including solid-state battery
maker QuantumScape.Will Smith &
Jada Pinkett Smith
Area of impact: Environment
Their portfolio of sustainable
companies includes Quidnet
Energy, a company that
develops storage systems for
excess electricity produced by
renewable-energy systems.
Jim Sorenson
Area of impact: Diversified
The Sorenson Impact Foundation,
which he founded in 2012 with his
wife, Krista, has invested $44 million
in startups working on health care,
education and clean energy.
George Soros
Area of impact: Diversified
Soros’ Open Society Foundation
has made more than $100 million
in impact investments, including
$15 million in two women-led funds,
Alitheia IDF and Women’s World
Banking Capital Partners II.
Kat Taylor & Tom Steyer
Areas of impact: Poverty/Inequality,
Environment
In 2013, the couple cofounded
Radicle Impact, which has invested
nearly $50 million in companies
engaged in responsible finance,
clean energy and healthy food.
Ben & Lucy Ana Walton
Areas of impact: Environment,
Education
This grandson of Walmart founder
Sam Walton started Zoma Capital
with his wife, Lucy Ana, in 2013
to back companies combating
environmental and social problems.
Serena Williams
Area of impact: Diversified
Her Serena Ventures, which invests
in companies with women and
minority founders, provided seed
funding to Every Mother, an
online fitness program for
pregnant women and new moms.
Evan Williams
Area of impact: Environment
The Twitter cofounder’s Obvious
Ventures invests in sustainable
companies such as Mosaic, which
offers financing for solar-energy
customers.
Jerry Yang
Area of impact: Diversified
The Yahoo cofounder’s AME
Cloud Ventures is invested
in more than 100 companies,
including meat-alternative maker
Impossible Foods.
Mark Zuckerberg &
Priscilla Chan
Area of impact: Diversified
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
has funneled over $100 million into
investments including Lovevery,
which makes Montessori-inspired
toys for babies and toddlers.Just Keep Swimming Cont.