What SecondMuse does

SecondMuse is a private innovation and consulting firm founded in 2009 and headquartered in Lake Oswego, Oregon, with 51-100 employees. The firm designs and implements programs for governments, corporations, and foundations across climate tech, youth mental health, gender equity in technology, circular economy, and food systems. Its operating model spans three revenue streams: consulting services (research, strategy, open innovation, sustainability, ecosystem development), program design and implementation (accelerators, prizes, ecosystem-building initiatives typically funded by foundations or governments), and investment management through its wholly-owned subsidiary SecondMuse Capital, which manages the Core Climate Fund and the CLIO Fund (~$55M in blended capital).

The firm's product surface is a portfolio of interconnected flagship programs rather than a single platform. Major offerings include LAUNCH (an open innovation platform co-founded with NASA, Nike, USAID, and the U.S. Department of State), Headstream (youth mental health, having supported nearly 100 startups reaching 50M+ young people), GET Cities (gender equity in tech, funded by $50M from Pivotal Ventures), For ClimateTech / Scale For ClimateTech / Venture For ClimateTech and M-Corps (NY-state cleantech with NYSERDA), The Incubation Network and Upstream Lab (ocean plastic and circular economy in South/Southeast Asia), Food System Vision Prize (with Rockefeller Foundation), and the Future Economy Lab. Geographically, SecondMuse has delivered programs across all 7 continents and 100+ countries, working with 600+ partner organizations including NASA, the World Bank, Nike, Pivotal Ventures, USAID, WHO, and the Rockefeller Foundation. The firm is led by co-CEOs Todd Khozein (Co-Founder) and Carrie Freeman, with senior investment leadership at SecondMuse Capital including EVP Erica Barbosa (ex-McConnell Family Foundation, $130M+ impact portfolio).

Name

SecondMuse

Legal name

SecondMuse

Website

https://secondmuse.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

SecondMuse is a private innovation firm that designs and implements programs for governments, corporations, and foundations across climate tech, youth mental health, gender equity, circular economy, and food systems. It earns revenue through consulting, program implementation, and its SecondMuse Capital investment arm.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Lake Oswego

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Consulting Services: SecondMuse offers consulting services spanning research, strategy, open innovation, sustainability initiatives, entrepreneurship ecosystem development, and multi-sector partnerships. They work with corporate, government, and institutional clients.
2. Program Design and Implementation: SecondMuse designs and implements innovation programs for clients, often funded by foundations, governments, or corporations. Programs include accelerators, prizes, and ecosystem-building initiatives.
3. Investment Management (SecondMuse Capital): SecondMuse Capital designs and manages investments to finance economies of the future. Their Core Climate Fund invests in climate tech ventures. They also manage blended finance mechanisms and have launched funds like the CLIO Fund for climate innovation in Quebec.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

SecondMuse is an innovation firm that designs and implements programs for governments, corporations, foundations, and entrepreneurs to build resilient and inclusive economies. The firm operates accelerator programs (Headstream, For ClimateTech, M-Corps, LAUNCH), open innovation challenges, and ecosystem-building initiatives across sectors such as climate tech, youth mental health, gender equity, food systems, circular economy, and ocean plastic. It also runs SecondMuse Capital, an investment arm managing climate and impact funds.

Product overview

SecondMuse is an innovation firm that operates as a platform of interconnected programs rather than a single unified product. Its core offerings include Headstream (youth mental health innovation), GET Cities (gender equity in tech), Upstream Lab (plastic pollution reduction), LAUNCH (global open innovation), Food System Vision Prize (food systems transformation), Scale For ClimateTech and Venture For ClimateTech (climate tech acceleration), The Incubation Network (ocean plastic solutions), M-Corps (NY cleantech manufacturing), and Future Economy Lab (economy design). The investment arm, SecondMuse Capital, manages funds including CLIO Fund and Core Climate Fund. Additional programs include Water Prize, Practice Lab, Black Tech Street, Out of the Blue Box Challenge, and Seafood Innovation Project, all focused on building resilient, inclusive economies through entrepreneurship support, open innovation, and capital deployment.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Headstream: An innovation program by SecondMuse focused on youth mental health and wellbeing, including an accelerator supporting mental health startups for young people.
• GET Cities
• Upstream Lab
• LAUNCH Food

Products and services

• Consulting Services SecondMuse offers consulting services spanning research, strategy, open innovation, sustainability initiatives, entrepreneurship ecosystem development, and multi-sector partnerships for corporate, government, and institutional clients.
• Program Design and Implementation SecondMuse designs and implements custom innovation programs for clients, often funded by foundations, governments, or corporations. Programs include accelerators, prizes, and ecosystem-building initiatives.
• Headstream An innovation program dedicated to youth mental health and digital wellbeing, operating an accelerator and community initiatives for startups focused on young people's social development and wellbeing.
• GET Cities A national initiative designed to accelerate the power and influence of historically excluded people and places in tech through ecosystem alignment and activation across Chicago, Washington D.C., and Miami.
• LAUNCH A global open innovation platform founded by SecondMuse with NASA, Nike, USAID, and the U.S. Department of State to identify and foster breakthrough ideas for a sustainable world.
• Food System Vision Prize A partnership with The Rockefeller Foundation and OpenIDEO inviting organizations globally to develop visions of regenerative and nourishing food systems they aspire to create by 2050.
• Scale For ClimateTech (S4C) A climate tech acceleration program administered by SecondMuse and NextCorps, supported by NYSERDA, offering global innovators comprehensive climate tech programming in New York.
• The Incubation Network A network launched with The Circulate Initiative to tackle ocean plastic in South and Southeast Asia through education, support, and finance of innovations in waste management.
• M-Corps New York State's cleantech manufacturing program, supported by NYSERDA, that accelerates cleantech ventures to support reducing CO2 emissions for New York State.
• SecondMuse Capital The investment arm of SecondMuse that designs and manages investments to finance economies of the future, generating financial returns while benefiting people and the planet.
• Core Climate Fund SecondMuse Capital's first climate venture fund focused on investing in outstanding companies with technologies that significantly enable reduction of carbon emissions across industries.
• CLIO Fund A climate innovations fund in Montreal/Quebec focused on investing in the next generation of climate innovations in transportation, agrifood, and data/AI for climate, raising $55 million in blended capital.
• Water Prize An open innovation initiative in Mexico addressing water security challenges by bringing together civil society, academia, government, and private sector.
• Black Tech Street An initiative in Tulsa, Oklahoma focused on building a supportive ecosystem for Black entrepreneurs and creating a Black tech innovation economy inspired by the legacy of Black Wall Street.
• Upstream Lab A 2.5-year program led by SecondMuse and InOff Plastic to support the emergence and scaling of upstream solutions to reduce plastic waste across South and SouthEast Asia.

Quantifiable outcome

• LAUNCH program startups raised $150M+ in direct funding and generated $500M+ in market value
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

26 partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• Climate KICcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Leading the Circular Economy Innovation Cluster (CEIC) programme with SecondMuse and GrowthAfrica, funded by IKEA Foundation, offering up to €50,000 grants for entrepreneurship support organizations in India and Kenya.
• GrowthAfricacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Partner in the CEIC programme led by Climate KIC with SecondMuse, supporting circular economy and ESG-focused entrepreneurship programmes in Bengaluru and Nairobi.
• EnviroMETS (Qld) LimitedmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Partnering to develop innovative funding models that support Queensland mining communities in economic transformation, job creation, and sustainable development.
• Economics of MutualitymajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Partner in designing and financing economies that serve people and the planet through an interactive workshop series at Impact Week 2025 in Singapore.
• Pulse IndustrialcoreOthers · 1 January 2023Ontario-based Industrial IoT company and first portfolio company of SecondMuse Capital's Core Climate Fund. Pulse Industrial develops AI-powered sensors for industrial equipment failure detection.
• Break Through TechcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Break Through Tech is a partner in the GET Cities initiative, a national program designed to accelerate representation and leadership of historically excluded people in tech, launched in 2020.
• University of QueenslandmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Collaborated on the Out of the Blue Box Innovation Challenge to restore the Great Barrier Reef, contributing academic expertise to coral reef restoration.
• Great Barrier Reef FoundationmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Partner in the Out of the Blue Box Challenge offering AU$450,000 in prize money for bold solutions to rapidly restore coral reefs.
• NASAcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSecondMuse co-founded Space Apps global hackathons with NASA. This is a flagship partnership that has engaged thousands of innovators globally to address challenges using open data from NASA.
• The Circulate InitiativecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSecondMuse partnered with The Circulate Initiative to launch The Incubation Network to tackle ocean plastic in South & Southeast Asia, addressing the ocean plastic crisis through education, support, and finance of innovations.
• The Rockefeller FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner on the Food System Vision Prize, a global initiative inviting organizations to develop visions of regenerative and nourishing food systems by 2050. The partnership has engaged 1,300+ teams globally.
• NYSERDAcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNew York State Energy Research and Development Authority supports the M-Corps program administered by SecondMuse and NextCorps, which accelerates cleantech ventures to reduce CO2 emissions for NY State.
• W.K. Kellogg FoundationmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWorks with Kellogg Foundation on the Morning Light program to grow entrepreneurial ecosystems in Battle Creek, Michigan, supporting children, families, and communities.
• InOff PlasticcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInOff Plastic co-leads the Upstream Lab with SecondMuse, a 2.5-year program to support emergence and scaling of upstream solutions to reduce plastic waste across South and SouthEast Asia.
• NikecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNike co-founded the LAUNCH open innovation platform with SecondMuse, NASA, USAID, and US Department of State to identify and foster breakthrough ideas for a sustainable world.
• USAIDcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUSAID is a founding partner of the LAUNCH platform and has collaborated on various development programs including LAUNCH Food and other innovation initiatives.
• The World BankmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe World Bank has partnered with SecondMuse on programs addressing development challenges and economic resilience across various geographies.
• The World Health OrganizationmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWHO has partnered with SecondMuse on global health innovation initiatives, including work related to brain health and mental health.
• Fundación Diez MorodomajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the Water Prize, an open innovation initiative in Mexico addressing water security challenges by bringing together civil society, academia, government, and private sector.
• Iberoamerican University (Universidad Iberoamericana)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner in the Water Prize program alongside Fundación Diez Morodo, contributing expertise to Mexico's water security challenges.
• Circulate CapitalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in launching The Incubation Network at the Ocean Partnership Summit alongside U.S. State Department and Ocean Conservancy to tackle ocean plastic through incubation and finance.
• U.S. State DepartmentcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFounding partner of LAUNCH platform and collaborator on ocean plastic initiatives through the Ocean Partnership Summit and G7 Environment Ministerial Meeting.
• Ocean ConservancycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in The Incubation Network to address ocean plastic crisis through innovation, education, and finance of solutions in waste management.
• NextCorpscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-administers For ClimateTech with SecondMuse and supports the Scale For ClimateTech and Venture For ClimateTech programs in New York.
• Global Brain Economy InitiativemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLed by Harris Eyre, this initiative is building shared investment architecture for brain capital. SecondMuse Capital collaborates on systemic investing approaches for brain health.
• Impact NavigatormajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-created by Headstream (SecondMuse) to help startups improve testing plans and frameworks for evaluating impact of their products on target beneficiaries.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• IDEO: IDEO is a globally recognized design and innovation consulting firm that designs programs and solutions for corporations, governments, and foundations. It is a direct comparable to SecondMuse in business model, client base (large enterprises and institutions), and systems-level innovation approach. OpenIDEO, an IDEO initiative, is also a direct collaborator with SecondMuse on the Food System Vision Prize.
• Dalberg: Dalberg is a global impact-oriented advisory firm that works with governments, foundations, corporations, and multilaterals on development, climate, and inclusive growth challenges. It competes directly with SecondMuse for innovation and ecosystem-building engagements across emerging markets.
• Acumen: Acumen is a nonprofit impact investor and accelerator that supports entrepreneurs tackling poverty across climate, agriculture, and health. It combines investment capital with program support similar to SecondMuse Capital and the firm's accelerator offerings.
• Village Capital: Village Capital runs impact-focused accelerator programs that support early-stage entrepreneurs in sectors like climate, health, and financial inclusion. It operates a peer-reviewed cohort model and supports ventures with similar tools to SecondMuse's Headstream and For ClimateTech accelerators.
• Unreasonable Group: Unreasonable Group runs accelerators and curated networks for impact entrepreneurs, partnering with corporations and foundations globally. Its model of pairing ventures with large institutional partners closely mirrors SecondMuse's program design approach.
• Echoing Green: Echoing Green runs fellowship and accelerator programs for emerging social entrepreneurs, often backed by major foundations. It is comparable in supporting founders across climate, equity, and health verticals similar to SecondMuse's accelerator cohort model.
• Climate KIC: Climate KIC is Europe's largest climate innovation accelerator, running programs and managing innovation clusters for climate entrepreneurs. It is both a peer in the climate accelerator space and an existing programmatic partner of SecondMuse on the CEIC initiative.
• Spring Impact: Spring Impact is a global nonprofit that supports replication and scaling of high-impact social enterprises, working with funders and intermediaries. It is comparable to SecondMuse in building the infrastructure for entrepreneurs and ecosystems to scale solutions in climate, equity, and inclusion.

Broad incumbents

• Ashoka: Ashoka is the world's largest network of social entrepreneurs, supporting fellows and ecosystem partners across 90+ countries. It is a broader incumbent in the social innovation space where SecondMuse competes for philanthropic program mandates and ecosystem-building contracts.
• New America: New America is a think tank and policy incubator that designs programs at the intersection of technology, equity, and economic inclusion. It is comparable to SecondMuse in publishing frameworks (e.g., AI policy), running cross-sector convenings, and partnering with foundations on impact programs.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/secondmuse
• Xx.com/secondmuse

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments1 record

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

Frequently asked questions about SecondMuse