The Inner Foundation

What The Inner Foundation does

The Inner Foundation is an independent, non-profit foundation headquartered in Stockholm (Grev Turegatan 40), founded in 2022 by Annika Sten Pärson and Pär-Jörgen Pärson with a €100 million capital commitment to be deployed over 20 years. Its core function is catalytic hybrid-finance investing in organizations working on "inner health" — primarily mental health, psychosocial support, and DEIB outcomes for emerging adults (ages 18–30), though its portfolio has expanded to adjacent populations including women, LGBTQ+ youth, refugees, neurodivergent individuals, and children at risk of abuse.

The foundation's offering is not a product but a financing stack composed of unrestricted multi-year grants (typically €25,000–€100,000 per year, one-year initial commitment usually extended), early-stage equity (seed through Series A), and limited-partnership commitments to aligned venture and impact funds. All deals are co-invested; the foundation does not invest alone, and applicants must identify additional funders. Beyond capital, portfolio organizations receive strategic guidance, network access, bi-annual gatherings, and an "inner health stipend" for founders. The foundation itself does not build technology; it is an LP, co-investor, and ecosystem builder, and its primary assets are its €100m patient-capital pool, a 40+ organization portfolio spanning Sub-Saharan Africa, Europe, North America, and the Middle East, and a network of 25+ co-investor and knowledge partners including Peak Capital, Norrsken VC, Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation, the European Investment Bank, Karolinska Institutet, and McKinsey Health Institute. Deal sourcing is sales-led through a documented eight-step process (application, alignment assessment, introduction, due diligence, investment committee, contracting, portfolio management, follow-on/exit), combining rolling equity applications, annual grant open calls, and targeted outreach.

The foundation operates with a nine-person core team (Founding Partner & Executive Chair Annika Sten Pärson, Chief of Staff & Head of Impact Rebecca Benghiat, two Portfolio & Investment Managers, a Postdoctoral Researcher, Communications Lead, Financial Controller, and Executive Assistant) plus an advisory board, with no external LPs or parent entity. Revenue in the commercial sense is not generated; the operating model is endowment-funded grant-making and catalytic investing, with no disclosed fees, product sales, or external fundraising.

Name

The Inner Foundation

Legal name

The Inner Foundation

Website

https://theinnerfoundation.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Inner Foundation is a Stockholm-based non-profit foundation founded in 2022 with a €100m, 20-year capital commitment that deploys catalytic grants, equity, and fund investments into 40+ mental health and DEIB organizations serving emerging adults and adjacent populations across Sub-Saharan Africa, Europe, North America, and the Middle East.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Mental Health Impact Philanthropy

NAICS

Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles (525), Voluntary Health Organizations (813212)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Private Foundations (BPAGAKAA)

Keywords

• Mental health investment
• Impact philanthropy
• Catalytic capital
• Social impact funding
• Grant making foundation

Headquarters

HQ city

Stockholm

HQ country

Sweden

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Investment Returns and Endowment: As an independent non-profit foundation, The Inner Foundation generates impact through deploying its committed capital (€100m over 20 years from 2022) via grants, equity investments, and hybrid financing instruments to portfolio organizations advancing inner health. The foundation's revenue model centers on catalytic capital deployment rather than revenue generation for itself.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Inner Foundation is an independent non-profit foundation that deploys a €100 million capital commitment (over 20 years from 2022) into changemakers advancing inner health, mental health, and DEIB, with a focus on emerging adults ages 18-30. It provides catalytic hybrid financing through unrestricted grants (typically €25,000–€100,000 per year), early-stage equity investments (seed through Series A), and LP commitments into mission-aligned VC and impact funds, paired with non-financial portfolio support including strategic guidance, network access, bi-annual convenings, and an inner health stipend for founders.

Product overview

The Inner Foundation is a non-profit investment foundation that does not develop or sell technology products. Instead, it operates as a catalytic hybrid finance investor, providing funding programs (grants, equity investments, and blended capital) to intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs working in the mental health and inner health space. The foundation's offering consists of its funding mechanisms and portfolio network support services rather than software products. Its portfolio includes organizations that develop technology-based mental health solutions, but those products belong to the respective portfolio companies, not to The Inner Foundation itself.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Grant Funding Program Unrestricted, multi-year grant funding (typically €25,000–€100,000 per year) for non-profits and social enterprises working in mental health, inner health, and DEIB, especially those serving emerging adults. Annual open call with one-year initial commitments that are typically extended subject to annual audit.
• Equity Investment Program Early-stage equity investments (seed through Series A) for scalable mission-driven businesses developing inner health and mental health solutions targeted at emerging adults. Sourced through a rolling application process and always co-invested alongside aligned partners.
• Fund Investment Program (LP Commitments) LP commitments into venture capital and impact funds led by underrepresented managers or with mandates in mental health, DEIB, or inner health, providing catalytic capital and validation for first-time and diverse fund managers.
• Portfolio Support Services Non-financial portfolio support for invested changemakers including strategic guidance, network access, bi-annual gatherings, follow-on/exit support, and an inner health stipend for founders, delivered through the foundation's 8-step investment process and ongoing portfolio management.

Quantifiable outcome

• Portfolio organizations report measurable impact: Meela achieves <3% therapy dropout rate; Single Step reports 92% reduced anxiety; Centrul Social delivers 95% emotional improvement; StrongMinds achieves 75% depression-free rate after treatment
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers13 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• Reach for ChangecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Co-founded Next in Mind initiative together with The Inner Foundation and Tim Bergling Foundation as collective response to rising mental health challenges of emerging adults in the Nordics. Next in Mind includes incubator program supporting 20 social entrepreneurs and targeted advocacy efforts.
• Tim Bergling FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Co-founded Next in Mind initiative to address mental health challenges of emerging adults (18-29) in the Nordics through incubator program and advocacy.
• AshokasupportingOthersGlobal network for social entrepreneurship supporting changemakers. Listed as ecosystem enabler collaborator.
• The MHPSS NetworksupportingOthersGlobal platform connecting people, networks, and organizations on mental health and psychosocial support in emergencies and chronic hardship.
• United for Global Mental HealthsupportingOthersGlobal catalyst organization bringing ambition to advocacy, innovation to financing, and voice to campaigning for mental health.
• Prospiral GlobalsupportingOthersSupporting businesses, philanthropists, and investors to design and deliver effective mental health solutions through assessments and strategy.
• KokorosupportingOthersGlobal nonprofit championing mental health as foundation for safer, kinder world. Co-invested in GreyMatter Capital.
• Center for Social SustainabilitysupportingOthersPart of Karolinska Institutet exploring sustainability connections between individuals, societies, animals, and environment.
• Stockholm School of EconomicssupportingOthersAdvancing research integrating well-being and happiness into leadership and economic systems.
• Center for Humane TechnologysupportingOthersNonprofit shaping technology to support well-being, democracy, and trustworthy information through ethical design.
• McKinsey Health InstitutesupportingOthersNon-profit from McKinsey & Company advancing global health and well-being through research and innovation.
• Rådet för psykisk helsesupportingOthersNorwegian knowledge partner in mental health.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation: Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation is a U.S. philanthropic venture fund that provides multi-year unrestricted funding and capacity building to early-stage social impact organizations — directly comparable to The Inner Foundation's model of unrestricted grants plus portfolio support across global geographies.
• Skoll Foundation: Skoll Foundation invests in social entrepreneurs tackling fundamental problems, providing grants and equity to scale proven solutions. Its portfolio approach across health, equity, and education makes it a direct peer to The Inner Foundation's entrepreneurial changemaker strategy.
• Echoing Green: Echoing Green backs emerging social entrepreneurs with seed funding, leadership development, and community — closely mirroring The Inner Foundation's catalytic capital plus network access model targeted at mental health and DEIB founders.
• Imaginable Futures: Imaginable Futures is a philanthropic venture fund investing in organizations improving learning, wellbeing, and economic opportunity for young people — directly analogous to The Inner Foundation's emerging-adults-focused catalytic capital approach.
• Mulago Foundation: Mulago Foundation is a high-impact philanthropy that deploys patient capital across grants, debt, and equity into solutions for global poverty and health, including mental health — comparable in scale, instrument mix, and portfolio-style support.
• Pivotal Ventures: Pivotal Ventures (founded by Melinda French Gates) deploys philanthropic capital across social issues including mental health, with hybrid grant and investment instruments and a focus on measurable outcomes — closely aligned with The Inner Foundation's approach.
• Peery Foundation: Peery Foundation is a family foundation that supports entrepreneurial leaders and scalable solutions in mental health, including grants and equity to early-stage ventures — directly comparable in size, instrument, and mental-health thesis.

Broad incumbents

• Omidyar Network: Omidyar Network is a philanthropic investment firm combining grants and impact investments across multiple sectors at materially larger scale than The Inner Foundation, with overlapping interest in mental health, DEI, and emerging-market entrepreneurship.
• Wellcome Trust: Wellcome Trust is a UK-based charitable foundation that funds mental health research and interventions globally at very large scale; overlapping mission focus on mental health makes it a broad incumbent peer to The Inner Foundation's narrower emerging-adults focus.
• Blue Meridian Partners: Blue Meridian Partners is a philanthropic partnership investing in scaled solutions for children and families, including mental and behavioral health — overlapping with The Inner Foundation's portfolio-support model but operating at materially larger scale.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses1 record

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/theinnerfoundation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments3 records

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

Frequently asked questions about The Inner Foundation