What 1803 Fund does

1803 Fund is a Portland, Oregon-based private investment vehicle established in 2023 with a $400 million seed commitment from Nike co-founder Phil Knight and his wife Penny Knight. The fund invests in real assets, financial tools, and community power to advance generational wealth and well-being for Black Portlanders, with a primary geographic focus on the historically Black Albina neighborhood in North and Northeast Portland that was largely displaced by mid-century urban renewal and Interstate 5 construction.

The fund's core activities center on direct real estate investment and community development, exemplified by the $70 million November 2025 acquisition of seven acres including a former grain terminal near the Moda Center. These properties are slated for mixed-use development under two named projects — Albina Riverside and Low End — which the fund projects will generate $700 million in economic impact and hundreds of jobs for the Portland metro area. Beyond physical development, the fund also publishes a Data Visualization Report to ground investment strategy in demographic and geographic data about where Black Portlanders live, work, gather, and build community.

The fund operates as a private investment vehicle returning capital through real estate development rather than a traditional product/services company, and is not a technology business. It employs approximately 15 team members spanning executive leadership (CEO Rukaiyah Adams, COO Cobi Lewis, Acting CFO Vikram Murthy), real estate operations (Tom Cody as Real Estate Partner), finance, data strategy, community partnership, and philanthropy functions. Governance is provided by a Board chaired by Larry Miller (Chair of Nike's Jordan Brand and Former President and CEO of Nike, Inc.) with John Donahoe (former Nike President and CEO) as Treasurer, and an Investment Committee that includes the CFO of the Port of Portland, the CEO and Founder of ADRE, and the Principal of Capstone Partners LLC.

Name

1803 Fund

Legal name

1803 Fund

Website

https://1803fund.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2023

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

1803 Fund is a Portland, Oregon private investment vehicle seeded with $400 million by Phil and Penny Knight that invests in real assets, financial tools, and community power to advance generational wealth for Black Portlanders in the historically Black Albina neighborhood.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Investment & Real Estate Development Fund

NAICS

Other Investment Pools and Funds (5259), Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles (525), Grantmaking Foundations (813211)

SIC

Investors, Nec (6799), Real Estate Dealers (For Their Own Account) (6532), Operative Builders (1531)

akta.pro primary industry

Community Development & Affordable Housing Funds (FSANAJAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Impact Investment & Development Investment Funds (BPADACAO), Grantmaking & Philanthropic Funds (Institutional Donors) (BPADAOAB), Real Estate Funds — Opportunistic / Development (FSANAEAI)

Keywords

• Community development fund
• Real estate investment
• Economic revitalization
• Impact investing
• Mixed-use development

Headquarters

HQ city

Portland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Infrastructure, Personnel, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Real Estate Investment Returns: As a $400 million investment fund backed by Phil Knight and Penny Knight for racial justice initiatives, the fund generates returns through real estate development projects such as the Albina neighborhood redevelopment, projecting $700 million in economic impact.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

1803 Fund is a $400 million place-based investment fund that deploys capital into real assets, financial tools, and community power to build generational wealth for Black Portland. Its primary activity is direct real estate development and community investment in North and Northeast Portland's historically Black Albina neighborhood.

Product overview

1803 Fund is a $400 million investment fund backed by Nike co-founder Phil Knight and his wife Penny Knight, focused on advancing generational wealth and well-being for Black Portlanders. The fund operates as a unified investment initiative that combines three core investment pillars: real assets (including mixed-use neighborhood developments like Albina Riverside and Low End), financial tools, and community power. The fund also publishes a Data Visualization Report as a research tool to ground investment decisions in current demographic and geographic data about Black Portland rather than inherited narratives.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Albina Riverside: A planned mixed-use neighborhood development within the 1803 Fund's Albina neighborhood redevelopment project.
• Low End

Products and services

• Albina Riverside A planned mixed-use neighborhood development within the Albina waterfront redevelopment, part of a broader initiative to rebuild economic prosperity in Portland's historically Black community.
• Low End A planned mixed-use neighborhood development within the Albina waterfront redevelopment, contributing to the projected $700 million economic impact for the Portland metro area.
• Data Visualization Report A foundational research tool providing updated data, geographic analysis, and community context on where Black Portlanders live, work, gather, and build community across the metropolitan area, designed to inform investment strategies. Publicly downloadable from the fund's website.

Quantifiable outcome

• $700 million projected economic impact from mixed-use development projects
• +2 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Omidyar Network: Impact investment firm of eBay founder Pierre Omidyar that deploys both philanthropic and for-profit capital into social impact — a comparable dual-mandate, mission-first investor, though operating at much broader scale and geography.
• Kresge Foundation: National foundation with a long-standing focus on American cities and equitable development, including real estate investments in underserved neighborhoods — comparable as a broader, established place-based impact investor.
• Ford Foundation: Large, established foundation with a $16B+ endowment that runs a major mission-related investments and place-based programs; comparable as a much larger, more diversified entity operating in the same impact-investing space.
• MacArthur Foundation: Major foundation with significant place-based investment in Chicago and a large endowment deployed across impact strategies — analogous as a broad incumbent in mission-driven, place-based capital deployment.

Emerging players

• Habitat for Humanity: Nonprofit that builds and finances affordable housing for lower-income households; comparable in the affordable real estate and community wealth-building dimension of 1803 Fund's work, though smaller scale per project.

Others

• Capstone Partners LLC: Real estate advisory firm whose Principal (Chris Nelson) sits on 1803 Fund's Investment Committee; comparable as an ecosystem partner providing real estate advisory that supports 1803 Fund's deal sourcing and execution.

Direct peers

• Reinvestment Fund: Community development financial institution that finances housing, education, and community health projects in low-income neighborhoods using data-driven underwriting — closely paralleling 1803 Fund's evidence-based, place-based deployment model.
• Enterprise Community Partners: National nonprofit that invests in affordable housing and community development across the U.S. with a mission-driven, multi-instrument approach analogous to 1803 Fund's real assets + financial tools + community power model.
• Calvert Impact Capital: Impact-focused investment fund that pools capital from foundations and individuals into community development and climate projects — comparable as a mission-driven pooled investment vehicle deploying capital at scale.
• Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC): One of the largest U.S. community development financial institutions, LISC deploys patient capital into real estate and small business in distressed neighborhoods — directly comparable to 1803 Fund's place-based real-asset strategy targeting Black Portlanders.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/1803fund
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/1803-fund
• Instagraminstagram.com/1803fund
• Xx.com/1803_Fund

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles22 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about 1803 Fund