Jain Family Institute

What Jain Family Institute does

Jain Family Institute (JFI) is a 501(c)(3) applied research organization founded in 2014 by Bobby Jain and headquartered in New York. It conducts policy-oriented economic research across a portfolio of issue areas including guaranteed income and cash transfers, higher-education finance, sovereign wealth fund governance, public banking, climate finance, transition minerals, and AI/digital ethics. Its primary audiences are public-sector decision-makers — federal, state, and municipal governments in the U.S., Latin American and African sovereign entities, and multi-sovereign coalitions such as the G20, V20, and IFSWF membership representing approximately $13 trillion of SWF assets.

JFI's products combine empirical research, interactive modeling tools, and policy frameworks. Notable technical assets include the Individual Stock Ownership (ISA) model and its underlying 20+ datasets, microsimulation tools for cash-transfer and student-debt policy (SPLICE, Public Bank Simulator, Cash Transfer Microsimulations), the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) tool, FEMCI, and the Transition Critical Minerals framework. The Center for Active Stewardship curates a database of more than 47 million proxy voting records across 110 issuers, and the ISA model is exclusively licensed to Outcome Group Inc. for downstream deployment.

The institute's business model is grant- and philanthropic-contribution-funded, supplemented by a small commercial licensing stream through Outcome Group. Operating model is project-based: research partnerships with entities such as the Philadelphia Fed, IFSWF, the V20 group, and African Union bodies anchor revenue. As of the 2024–2026 period, JFI has announced the sunsetting of its independent operations, with core initiatives intended to continue under new institutional homes rather than within the standalone 501(c)(3).

Name

Jain Family Institute

Legal name

Jain Family Institute

Website

https://jainfamilyinstitute.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Closed

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Jain Family Institute is a New York-based 501(c)(3) applied research organization founded in 2014 that builds policy tools and frameworks on cash transfers, sovereign wealth funds, climate finance, and AI governance for governments and multi-sovereign coalitions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Policy Research

NAICS

Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172), Scientific Research and Development Services (5417), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813)

SIC

Services-Management Services (8741)

akta.pro primary industry

Strategic Partnerships, Alliances & JVs Advisory (BPAHADAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Results-Based Financing (RBF) & Performance-Based Grants (BPADAOAF)

Keywords

• Applied policy research
• Public-interest finance
• Social wealth management
• Climate finance analysis
• Higher education research

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Grants and Charitable Contributions: As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, JFI operates primarily through grants, donations, and charitable contributions from foundations, individuals, and government agencies supporting public-interest research.
2. Research Partnerships and Contracts: JFI conducts research under contract with government agencies, international organizations, and foundations. Revenue is generated through sponsored research agreements and policy consulting engagements.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

JFI is a nonprofit applied research organization that produces research, policy designs, and practical analytical tools for governments and public institutions. Core deliverables include research publications on guaranteed income, higher education finance, AI governance, climate finance, and mineral markets; proprietary modeling tools (LCOE, FEMCI, SPLICE, ISA pricing engine, microsimulation tools); and policy advisory engagements with municipal, state, national, and multilateral government bodies.

Product overview

Jain Family Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit applied research organization founded in 2014 that develops practical tools and conducts research for governments, public institutions, and regional coalitions. The organization's product portfolio centers on analytical tools for public-interest finance and policy: core tools include the Transition Critical Minerals tool, Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE), FEMCI investment scenario modeling tool, and SPLICE for social wealth fund management. Supporting tools include Cash Transfer Microsimulations for tax policy analysis, an interactive Student Debt Comparison Tool, a Public Bank Balance Sheet Simulator (developed with Berggruen Institute), an ISA Pricing and Underwriting Model (licensed to Outcome), and the Outcomes Center for workforce income share agreements. An affiliated initiative, the Center for Active Stewardship, maintains the Proxy Voting Database at proxydata.org. The organization also publishes research through Phenomenal World. After more than ten years of work, JFI has sunset as an independent organization, with core initiatives continuing under new institutional homes. Address: 150 Varick St, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10013.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Phenomenal World: JFI's publication platform featuring essays and interviews on political economy
• Social Wealth
• Minerals for Development
• Higher Education Finance
• Financing the Energy Transition
• Center for Active Stewardship (CAS)

Products and services

• Transition Critical Minerals Tool

Quantifiable outcome

• JFI research on income share agreements was cited in White House issue brief on student debt
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature8 records

Partnerships

15 partnerships are on record, tiered major and core.

• The Century FoundationmajorGTM or Marketing Partner · 3 December 2025The Century Foundation co-presented the event 'Why American Higher Education Needs An Overhaul' with JFI and Higher Education Labor United in Manhattan.
• Higher Education Labor United (HELU)majorGTM or Marketing Partner · 3 December 2025Higher Education Labor United co-presented the event on higher education reform with JFI and The Century Foundation.
• Development Bank of Southern AfricamajorGTM or Marketing Partner · 17 November 2025Partnered with JFI at G20 Social Summit where Sina Sinai spoke on a panel centered on the pan-African sovereign wealth fund initiative.
• SAIPARcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 November 2025South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIPAR) partnered with JFI for the African Regional Integration Fund engagements in Lusaka, Zambia, convening experts from across the continent.
• RubidiumDatacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 November 2025RubidiumData partnered with JFI for the African Regional Integration Fund, providing AI-enabled supply chain mapping platform (valuechains.ai) for the initiative.
• i3TcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 November 2025i3T partnered with JFI for African Regional Integration Fund engagements, providing procurement depth through high-impact case studies and participating in Africa Industrialization Week.
• Fund for Guaranteed IncomecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 29 July 2025Collaborative partnership on the Compton Pledge guaranteed income study in California, testing policy reforms related to the Child Tax Credit through a randomized controlled trial.
• International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds (IFSWF)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 May 2025JFI partnered with IFSWF to publish the report 'The State of SWF Social Impact Integration: Trends and Opportunities' based on survey responses from 21 sovereign wealth funds managing $13 trillion in assets.
• Climate Vulnerable Forum (V20)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 April 2025JFI and V20 moved towards establishing a multi-sovereign investment fund at April meeting with V20 representatives from eleven member countries, launching South-South climate investment mechanism discussions.
• Philadelphia Federal Reserve BankcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 8 April 2024JFI's empirical research team led by Sidhya Balakrishnan conducted a study of income share agreements in partnership with the Philadelphia Fed. This research formed part of a White House issue brief on student debt.
• Government of MexicomajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 11 September 2023JFI released a report assessing Mexico's remarkable petroleum hedging strategy as counter-cyclical insurance.
• City of Maricá, BrazilcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 June 2023City government partnered with JFI for the implementation and evaluation of the mumbuca digital complementary currency—one of the most widely traded local currencies in Brazil.
• Berggruen InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 May 2020Partnership on Municipal Public Banking series, producing reports and interactive tools exploring impacts of a public bank for Los Angeles, including affordable housing, green energy, and employee ownership transitions.
• Outcome Group InccoreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing Partner · 6 February 2020Exclusive partnership where Outcome licensed JFI's Income Share Agreement (ISA) model—the most comprehensive ISA pricing and underwriting engine combining more than 20 datasets—for expanding the ISA market.
• Fluminense Federal University (UFF) and Euclides da Cunha Foundation (FEC)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 October 2019Research partnership to study the effects of Maricá's full-scale basic income policy—one of the largest unconditional cash transfer policies in Latin America, serving approximately 50,000 residents.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Roosevelt Institute: Progressive economic policy think tank producing applied research on public power, wealth concentration, and labor — closely comparable to JFI's Social Wealth initiative and public-banking frameworks.
• Resources for the Future: Independent research institution focused on energy, environmental, and natural resource economics — comparable to JFI's Financing the Energy Transition, LCOE, and critical-minerals research portfolio.
• Economic Policy Institute: Nonpartisan think tank focused on economic inequality, labor markets, and tax policy — comparable in mission and audience to JFI's empirical tax-policy and higher-education finance research.
• Urban Institute: Nonprofit research organization delivering evidence-based analysis on economic policy, housing, education finance, and social safety-net programs — comparable to JFI's guaranteed income, student debt, and tax-policy work for governments and public institutions.
• MDRC: Social-policy research organization focused on rigorous randomized evaluations of programs for low-income populations — directly comparable to JFI's RCT-based guaranteed-income and policy-evaluation work in Compton and HudsonUP.
• The Century Foundation: Progressive think tank covering economic inequality, education, and social policy with an in-house research team — directly comparable to JFI's policy-design work and an active JFI convening partner.
• New America: Public-policy research organization with initiatives on education, economic policy, and international development — comparable to JFI's applied thematic mix of higher education, AI governance, and finance policy.

Broad incumbents

• National Bureau of Economic Research: Private, nonprofit research organization producing working papers and empirical analyses across economics — comparable to JFI's empirical economic research on student debt, taxation, and labor markets.
• RAND Corporation: Large applied research organization producing policy research for governments worldwide — comparable in applied, sponsor-driven research model and policy-implementation orientation.
• Brookings Institution: Premier U.S. think tank producing economic and social policy research across government finance, education, and inequality — directly comparable to JFI's applied research on tax policy, higher education finance, and social wealth.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/jainfamilyinst
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCX7XK1eXYdV1eWdmSqJaXQw
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/jain-family-institute

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 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 Jain Family Institute