New Media Ventures

What New Media Ventures does

New Media Ventures (NMV) is a community of more than 250 angel investors, venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, and philanthropists investing together to drive progressive social change. Founded in 2010 and headquartered in San Francisco, the organization operates as a venture philanthropy fund and angel network that provides catalytic early-stage capital to mission-driven for-profit startups and nonprofit organizations working at the intersection of media, technology, and democracy. NMV's core offerings include the Innovation Fund ($50K–$100K), the Voices for Democracy pooled fund ($25K–$50K) targeting seven battleground states, and the Latine Voices for Democracy (LV4D) bilingual media accelerator. Since inception, NMV has made over 120 portfolio investments with notable exits including CrowdTangle (acquired by Facebook), Attentive.ly (acquired by Blackbaud), and tinyGive (acquired by Give Lively); NMV reports a 92% portfolio success rate.

The organization operates a continuous investment cycle via an Airtable-based intake form reviewed year-round with a 60-day response window and standardized evaluation to reduce bias. Its fund architecture spans a 501c3 vehicle managed by ImpactAssets (for grants and early-stage for-profit investments), fiscal sponsorship through Tides Advocacy (501c4) for political action startups, and Tides Foundation (501c3) for the Education Fund. A 501c3 affiliate, New Rising Ventures (NRV), provides grants to nonpartisan early-stage entrepreneurs. NMV's revenue model combines philanthropic contributions from donors and foundations, network investor participation, and returns from portfolio investments typically structured as SAFEs or convertible notes; portfolio companies also receive non-capital support including webinars, coaching, peer community, and introductions to additional funders.

In February 2025, Jessica Salinas and Phil Sanders were named Co-Presidents, succeeding Carlissia Graham — the first Black woman to lead the firm — who was appointed President in February 2023 after serving as COO and Interim President. NMV is distributed with a small team (1–10 employees) including Investment Associates Abi Leung and Carlos Salinas and Fundraising Associate Inbar Soffer Sharon.

Name

New Media Ventures

Legal name

New Media Ventures

Website

http://www.newmediaventures.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

New Media Ventures is a San Francisco-based venture philanthropy fund and angel network of 250+ investors that provides $25K–$100K catalytic early-stage capital to mission-driven for-profit startups and nonprofits working at the intersection of progressive media, civic technology, and democracy.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Philanthropy / Impact Investment

NAICS

Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles (525), Other Investment Pools and Funds (5259)

SIC

Security Brokers, Dealers & Flotation Companies (6211), Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

SDG / Thematic Sustainable Investment Funds (FSANAJAN)

akta.pro secondary industries

Early-Stage Venture Capital (Series A/B) (FSANAAAB), Sector-Focused Venture Capital (Vertical Specialists) (FSANAAAD)

Keywords

• Venture philanthropy
• Impact investing
• Civic technology
• Progressive media
• Angel network

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Investment Returns: NMV makes early-stage investments in mission-driven for-profit companies (typically via SAFEs and convertible notes) and grants to nonprofits. Return on investments helps sustain their work over time.
2. Philanthropic Contributions: Funding from donors, foundations, and individual investors who join NMV's network to invest alongside them. New Media Ventures Education Fund enables community engagement and thought leadership.
3. Investor Network Participation: NMV invites network members to invest alongside them, sharing deal-flow and diligence, enabling individual and institutional investors to make informed, strategic, and impactful decisions.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

New Media Ventures is a venture philanthropy fund and angel network that provides catalytic early-stage capital ($50K–$100K via its Innovation Fund; $25K–$50K via Voices for Democracy) to mission-driven for-profit and nonprofit startups working at the intersection of progressive media, technology, and democracy. NMV operates a continuous investment cycle with a standardized due diligence process, supplemented by portfolio support (network access, coaching, webinars) and connections to additional funders.

Product overview

New Media Ventures operates as a civic impact investment fund and angel network, not a traditional technology product company. Their core offering is the Innovation Fund, which provides $50K-$100K investments to early-stage for-profit and nonprofit startups. NMV offers a continuous investment cycle for reviewing submissions year-round. Their portfolio support program provides network access, webinars, coaching, and connects startups to additional funding. They run specialized programs including the Voices for Democracy pooled fund for community-centric media in battleground states, and the Latine Voices for Democracy (LV4D) bilingual media accelerator. Their sister organization, New Rising Ventures (NRV), is a 501(c)(3) that provides grants to early-stage entrepreneurs. NMV has invested in over 120 startups across progressive media, civic tech, and political innovation sectors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Innovation Fund NMV's core investment vehicle providing $50K to $100K in funding (typically via SAFEs and convertible notes for for-profits, unrestricted grants for nonprofits) to early-stage pre-seed/seed startups working on progressive media and technology solutions.
• Voices for Democracy A pooled fund open call designed to find, finance, and support community-centric media in key battleground states (NV, AZ, TX, GA, FL, NC, PA), with $25K to $50K funding for early-stage organizations with budgets under $1M.
• Portfolio Support Program Post-investment support for portfolio companies including network access to founders, webinars, one-on-one coaching, goal setting, cash management guidance, and introductions to additional funders at events.
• Latine Voices for Democracy (LV4D) Accelerator Bilingual media accelerator supporting Latino-led media ventures, described as the country's only bilingual news media accelerator.

Quantifiable outcome

• 92% of NMV-backed initiatives succeed (vs. 90% industry failure rate)
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• New Rising VenturescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNRV is the 501(c)(3) affiliate of NMV, supporting early-stage, nonpartisan entrepreneurs and activists transforming democracy through innovation. NRV is actively funding and operates a separate but aligned investment program.
• International Women's Media FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerListed as a partner for Latine Voices for Democracy (LV4D), NMV's bilingual media accelerator, supporting diverse voices in media.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves1 record

Broad incumbents

• Emerson Collective: Impact-focused organization making grants and investments across education, media, and immigration. Comparable to NMV in mission-driven thesis but operates with significantly larger resources and a broader portfolio mandate.
• Omidyar Network: Philanthropic investment firm created by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, with significant civic-tech, media, and governance investments. Operates at materially larger scale than NMV but covers overlapping themes including independent media and accountable governance.
• Tides Foundation: Major fiscal sponsor and philanthropic partner that hosts NMV's Education Fund (501c3). As both infrastructure partner and broader progressive funder, Tides is structurally comparable as a pooled capital and grantmaking platform.

Direct peers

• Luminate: Global philanthropic organization funding civic engagement and independent media. Luminate is an existing NMV partner and shares the thesis of backing civic tech and media entrepreneurs targeting accountability and democratic participation.
• Voqal: Impact-investing 501c3 with a venture-style portfolio of civic-infrastructure and equity-focused ventures. Voqal's founder sits on NMV's board and seeded NMV, making it a tightly linked peer in the progressive venture-philanthropy space.
• Echoing Green: Social-enterprise fellowship and seed-fund organization supporting emerging leaders driving social change. Operates a comparable model of seed-stage catalytic capital plus community/network support for diverse, mission-driven founders.
• Propel Capital: Impact investment intermediary that provides diligence and infrastructure to mission-aligned funds. Propel Capital is an existing NMV partner that shares deal-flow and diligence, making it a tightly overlapping peer in the progressive capital ecosystem.
• Kapor Capital: Early-stage impact venture fund focused on gap-closing startups, with strong alignment to NMV on diversity and mission-driven investing. NMV Co-President Phil Sanders is a former Kapor Capital fellow, indicating close cultural and operational overlap.
• Democracy Fund: Foundation focused on strengthening American democracy through grants to elections, media, and governance organizations. Operates as a pooled civic-infrastructure funder closely comparable to NMV's pooled Voices for Democracy vehicle.
• New Profit: Venture philanthropy fund providing unrestricted capital and capacity-building support to social entrepreneurs. Shares NMV's model of combining catalytic funding with non-financial portfolio support across diverse mission-driven ventures.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/newmediaventure
• Facebookfacebook.com/newmediaventures
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/new-media-ventures-nmv-
• Instagraminstagram.com/newmediaventure

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments81 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about New Media Ventures