Safer Chemistry Impact Fund

What Safer Chemistry Impact Fund does

The Safer Chemistry Impact Fund (SCI Fund) is a nonprofit blended capital vehicle established in 2024 and fiscally sponsored by the Windward Fund, headquartered in Washington, DC. It mobilizes corporate, foundation, and philanthropic investment to drive the substitution of hazardous chemicals with safer alternatives across consumer-facing supply chains, with a stated five-year capital-raising target of $15M. The fund operates as a coordinating entity among corporate donors, grantees, and industry stakeholders across multiple verticals — most prominently beauty and personal care, with active expansion into electronics, building materials, and apparel/footwear. Its operational model rests on five integrated pillars: the Chemical Hazard Data Trust (managed by ChemFORWARD), a first-of-its-kind Metrics Framework for measuring safer-chemistry adoption, RFP-based Impact Programs distributing grants typically sized $50K–$250K, a Knowledge Hub, and the Know Better, Do Better Collaborative within the beauty industry.

Its core product is shared chemical-hazard data and assessment infrastructure. The Chemical Hazard Data Trust consolidates GHS-based hazard characterizations for tens of thousands of chemicals and products into a centralized, queryable repository, currently covering 48,000+ chemicals and 8,500+ products. The fund also produces standardized sector reports — most notably the Beauty & Personal Care Ingredient Intelligence Report and the 2025 Toxic Additives Report produced jointly with Planet Tracker — and has codified a Metrics Framework that defines comparable KPIs for safer-chemistry adoption. Seed commitments from Apple, Google, and the Forsythia Foundation established the initial capital base; subsequent grant-making is allocated through competitive RFPs and partnerships with downstream implementers.

The fund operates a hybrid nonprofit commercial model. It does not generate revenue through product sales; rather, it secures multi-year contributions from corporate and philanthropic donors and re-deploys those funds via grants to industry partners and data infrastructure operators. Its customer base is bifurcated: (a) capital providers — Apple, Google, the Forsythia Foundation, and prospective additional corporate/foundation donors — and (b) participating industry brands, ingredient suppliers, and retailers (Sephora, Ulta, Honest Company, Credo, Beautycounter, Inolex, Dow) that consume its data, frameworks, and collaborative outputs. Pricing takes the form of grant disbursements upstream and in-kind access to data, benchmarking, and collaborative working groups downstream.

Name

Safer Chemistry Impact Fund

Legal name

Safer Chemistry Impact Fund

Website

https://saferchemistryimpactfund.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2024

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Safer Chemistry Impact Fund is a nonprofit blended capital vehicle that mobilizes corporate and philanthropic investment to replace hazardous chemicals with safer alternatives across consumer supply chains, operating a shared chemical-hazard data trust, a standardized metrics framework, and sector-specific collaborative programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Environmental Impact Investment

NAICS

Environmental Consulting Services (541620), Environmental Consulting Services (54162)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Sustainable Private Markets (Impact PE/VC, Private Credit, Infrastructure) (FSAAALAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Pollution Prevention & Toxics Reduction (BPAGAGAJ), Chemical Management & Toxic Substances Compliance (TSCA, REACH, GHS/SDS, PFAS Programs) (EUAHABAE)

Keywords

• Safer chemistry funding
• Chemical hazard data
• Environmental impact grants
• Sustainable supply chain
• Nonprofit impact investing

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

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. Blended Capital Fundraising: The SCI Fund operates as a blended capital initiative that raises and deploys funds from multiple sources including corporate seed investors (Apple, Google), foundations (Forsythia Foundation), and philanthropic capital to provide grants and contracts for safer chemistry initiatives. The fund is fiscally sponsored by Windward Fund.
2. Grant Funding: The fund provides grants and contracts via RFP processes to organizations with capacity to address strategic needs in safer chemistry adoption across supply chains. Funding terms range from one year with budgets from $50,000 to $250,000 per project.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Safer Chemistry Impact Fund is a multi-stakeholder blended capital fund that mobilizes global investment to systematically replace hazardous chemicals with verified safer alternatives across consumer-facing supply chains. It operates four core components: the Chemical Hazard Data Trust (managed by ChemFORWARD) providing centralized chemical hazard assessments; Impact Programs that distribute grants and contracts via annual RFPs; a Knowledge Hub offering science-based resources; and a Metrics Framework for measuring safer chemistry adoption progress.

Product overview

The Safer Chemistry Impact Fund is a multi-stakeholder blended capital fund that operates as an investment and initiative coordination platform rather than a traditional software product company. Its core offerings center on the Chemical Hazard Data Trust (managed by ChemFORWARD) for chemical hazard data access, a Metrics Framework for measuring safer chemistry adoption, Impact Programs providing grants via RFP processes, and the Knowledge Hub for industry resources. The fund facilitates the Know Better, Do Better Collaborative for the beauty industry, and publishes periodic analytical reports including Beauty & Personal Care Ingredient Intelligence Reports and Toxic Additives analyses. The fund's model is to identify, fund, scale, and measure impact solutions to embed safer chemistry across supply chains as the standard operating system.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Chemical Hazard Data Trust A centralized data repository managed by ChemFORWARD that provides broad access to actionable chemical hazard data with a harmonized color-coded rating system (A/B/C for safer chemistry, D/F for priority elimination, U/? for data gaps), reducing costs and time for brands, suppliers, and investors to replace chemicals of concern.
• Metrics Framework A first-of-its-kind standardized metrics framework to measure and drive adoption of safer chemistry across industries, including six key metrics tracking progress in data quality, availability, innovation, collaboration, and adoption of safer chemical alternatives.
• Impact Programs Annual docket of programs and projects to activate systems change across supply chains, providing grants or contracts via an RFP process to organizations with capacity to address strategic needs in safer chemistry adoption.
• Knowledge Hub A science-based, data-driven communications platform providing industry-specific baseline reports, case examples of alternatives adoption, and strategic resources for supply chain stakeholders working on safer chemistry.
• Know Better, Do Better (KBDB) Collaborative An industry-led initiative managed by ChemFORWARD bringing together beauty retailers, brands, and suppliers to improve ingredient safety using shared data and collaborative filling of data gaps across the value chain.

Quantifiable outcome

• 76% of beauty and personal care ingredients now characterized for safety (up from 70% in 2023)
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers9 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

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered major, core, advisory and supporting.

• Planet TrackermajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 October 2025Co-published the Toxic Additives report analyzing product portfolio risk from plastic additives. Planet Tracker is a non-profit financial think tank aligning capital markets with planetary boundaries, generating analytics on capital market degradation and transition opportunities.
• ChemFORWARDcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 March 2024First grant recipient and foundational strategic partner managing the Chemical Hazard Data Trust. ChemFORWARD is a science-based nonprofit that creates broad access to chemical hazard data and illuminates safer alternatives through its shared data platform. The fund invested in scaling ChemFORWARD's chemical hazard repository and establishing a data trust with fair and equitable access.
• WE ACT for Environmental JusticemajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 February 2024Grant recipient for a project to catalyze safer beauty products marketed to people of color. WE ACT has been working since 2019 through its Beauty Inside Out campaign to address toxic chemicals in cosmetics and health disparities affecting communities of color.
• Windward FundcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFiscal sponsor of the Safer Chemistry Impact Fund, providing administrative infrastructure and organizational support for the fund's operations.
• Know Better, Do Better (KBDB) CollaborativecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIndustry-led initiative managed by ChemFORWARD bringing together beauty industry leaders including Sephora, Ulta Beauty, The Honest Company, Credo Beauty, Counter, Inolex, and Dow to improve ingredient safety across the value chain through science-based, data-driven hazard transparency.
• lululemonadvisoryStrategic or Co-development PartnerAdvisory Board member represented by Renee Hackenmiller-Paradis, Senior Director, Chemicals Management at lululemon, providing strategic guidance on safer chemicals management.
• Investor Environmental Health Network (IEHN)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMembership-based investor collaborative that promotes the use of safer chemicals to enhance shareholder value, public health, and the environment. IEHN issued first safer chemical management recommendations for consumer-facing brands with over 15 national and international brands implementing policies recommended.
• ChemWorksmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFree web-based platform bridging the gap between chemical regulation (by hazard) and chemical use (by function). Partners including Apple and Google played significant roles in developing ChemWorks as a hub for safer chemistry resources in electronics.
• As You SowsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerShareholder advocacy organization that has filed shareholder resolutions on chemical hazard reduction alongside IEHN, resulting in policy and operational changes at companies.
• Mercy Investment ServicessupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerActivist investor that has filed shareholder resolutions on chemical hazard reduction, working to drive chemical transparency and safer alternatives adoption.
• EPA Safer ChoicesupportingOthersEPA program that provides information about cleaning products and features the hazard-based Safer Chemical Ingredients List (SCIL list) of safer chemicals. Referenced as a resource for companies implementing safer chemistry.
• Health Product Declaration Collaborative (HPDC)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvider of the Health Product Declaration (HPD) Open Standard, the first standard format for reporting material contents of building products. SCI Fund utilized HPDC data for analysis of 7,200 products containing 82,000 disclosed substances.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC): Major environmental advocacy organization with longstanding chemical safety programs. NRDC engages on TSCA, REACH, and corporate chemicals management in a broader context than SCI Fund's focused supply-chain approach.
• Environmental Defense Fund (EDF): Large environmental nonprofit historically active on chemical policy and corporate engagement. EDF operates across a broader portfolio (climate, oceans, health) but shares SCI Fund's mission of reducing chemical hazards in commerce.

Direct peers

• Planet Tracker: Nonprofit financial think tank that co-published the Toxic Additives report with SCI Fund. Planet Tracker aligns capital markets with planetary boundaries, generating analytics on environmental transition risks comparable to SCI Fund's investor-focused work.
• ChemFORWARD: Direct strategic partner and operational implementer of the Chemical Hazard Data Trust. ChemFORWARD is a science-based nonprofit that curates chemical hazard data and the harmonized rating system underpinning the SCI Fund's safer chemistry work.
• Toxic-Free Future: Northwest nonprofit working to replace toxic chemicals with safer alternatives. Toxic-Free Future conducts research and policy advocacy on chemicals in products, closely aligned with SCI Fund's strategy programs.
• Mercy Investment Services: Activist investor that has filed shareholder resolutions on chemical hazard reduction. Works alongside IEHN and As You Sow to drive chemical transparency, providing a parallel investor-engagement channel to SCI Fund's grant-making model.
• As You Sow: Shareholder advocacy organization that has filed shareholder resolutions on chemical hazard reduction alongside IEHN. Both organizations use investor engagement to drive corporate transparency and safer chemistry policies.
• Health Product Declaration Collaborative (HPDC): Provider of the Health Product Declaration Open Standard for building product transparency. HPDC data sources are used by SCI Fund for analysis of 7,200 products containing 82,000 disclosed substances, making it a complementary standards body.
• ChemSec (International Chemical Secretariat): Swedish nonprofit advocating for safer chemicals and providing ChemScreener, a substitute assessment tool. Both ChemSec and SCI Fund mobilize corporate and investor action to phase out hazardous chemicals in supply chains.
• Investor Environmental Health Network (IEHN): Membership-based investor collaborative focused on safer chemicals and shareholder value. IEHN co-authored the SCI Fund's investor guidance and is a core stakeholder driving adoption of chemical hazard disclosure across portfolios.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/safer-chemistry-impact-fund

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 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 Safer Chemistry Impact Fund