Propel was founded to use capital creatively for social impact
Since 2008, we’ve invested millions in companies, non-profits, and future leaders working across 16 of the 17 UN sustainable development goals, and impacting millions of lives. Our 100+ partners are challenging the status quo and building a future that works for the many, not just the few.
Sparked by a shared interest in cross-sector solutions to issues of inequality, we work with a range of dynamic social entrepreneurs and organizers to employ creative approaches that fuel innovation and drive social change. Our approach ensures that investment capital is cycled repeatedly for impact and we prioritize strategies for unlocking additional capital. By doing more leg work, taking on more risk, and investing early, we have leveraged millions more from other investors.
We determined early on that all capital allocations should be aligned with our values - from operations to investments to grants. This decision remains central to our mission today.
Make Money Flow
Unlocking new markets for social and environmental change
In the early days of impact investing, Propel pioneered creative fund structures with first-time fund managers to spur innovation and attract additional capital to launch this nascent values-driven ecosystem. Endeavor Catalyst and other path-breaking funds we bet on have gone on to raise over $6 billion in subsequent funding and paved the way for a significant increase in capital allocated for impact. Nearly all of these funds were managed or co-led by women, helping to change the face of investment management. Our Propel Opportunity initiative also provided catalytic capital for deep impact partners, such as Root Capital, an agricultural lender reaching nearly 7 million rural farmers and their families living on the frontlines of climate change.
Through these and other investments -- financing for women entrepreneurs in Guatemala, quality employment for veterans here in the U.S., and training and jobs programs for youth in Southeast Asia and Africa -- we’ve worked with our partners to pilot new ways of deploying capital with an impact-forward lens, together advancing impact investing and socially responsible business as critical solutions for our future.
Endeavor Catalyst
Launched in 2013 by Endeavor, a nonprofit building ecosystems for high-impact entrepreneurship globally, Endeavor Catalyst invests in Endeavor entrepreneurs through a rules-based co-investment process. Proceeds from Endeavor Catalyst provide returns to investors while also directing critical earned income to Endeavor’s nonprofit business and mentoring programs. Propel helped provide initial capital and thought partnership to beta test this powerful concept through Catalyst Fund I and, in 2017, participated in Fund II.
Endeavor now operates in 41 markets and serves a network of over 2,000 entrepreneurs who collectively have generated over 4 million jobs and $28 billion in revenue through their companies. Endeavor Catalyst has made over 260 investments through 2022.
Root Capital
Since 1999, Root Capital has lent $1.4 billion to over 725 agricultural enterprises reaching nearly 1.5 million farm families, mostly living in communities suffering from poverty and/or environmental degradation.
Propel began a partnership Root Capital in 2008 at a critical inflection point in the organization’s history and reconfigured our engagement several times in the subsequent decade to meet their evolving needs and allow them to pull much larger pools of capital along. Initially providing low-interest debt as Root Capital was developing its lending model, we later co-created a new kind of equity-like subordinated debt with a 10-year $3 million note. With Propel as the lead investor, the organization was able to raise additional subordinated debt and then leverage that to secure $44.5 million in senior debt. This capital facilitated new lending to agricultural enterprises in excess of $52 million, benefiting farmers from the highlands of Ecuador to women-run coffee cooperatives in the Democratic Republic of Congo. More recently, Propel converted our subordinated debt to equity, providing the most flexible capital for the organization to anchor lending for years to come.
Get in Early
Opening doors for people with great ideas and great potential
Whether investing in early-stage companies or in long-term systems change -- we start early, look for unexpected solutions, and remain flexible and persistent while helping fuel our partners’ growth.
After nearly 15 years of investing in fund managers and innovative social enterprises, we launched Propel Ventures to increase the flow of capital to early-stage impact-driven companies and talented entrepreneurs from historically underinvested communities. Over 70% of our portfolio companies are led by first time founders. All of our partners are building new solutions for a better future, from teaching empathy at scale to designing campaigns and messages that reach the new American majority.
NewWorld
NewWorld is a research, campaign, and narrative studio that develops, tests, and scales media properties — from digital shows to social series. Using real-time audience analytics and cultural intelligence, they identify and invest in durable, monetizable media assets. Through this approach, NewWorld strengthens narrative resilience, counters misinformation upstream, and shapes cultural conversations around key issues and more.
When Andre Banks, founder of NewWorld, launched the company, Propel became one of his earliest clients. The following year, Propel became NewWorld’s first investor, working closely with the team as they scaled to 30+ employees. With active support from Propel, NewWorld launched Win Black / Pa’lante, a national campaign to combat voter disinformation and other values-based media projects. Since then, NewWorld has launched shows, built audiences, and worked with a range of clients and partners.
Mobilize
Mobilize helps mission-driven organizations manage events and recruit volunteers to organize, engage, and move people towards change through a tech driven user-friendly platform. Founded in 2017, Mobilize helps organizations convert interest and engagement into coordinated action by streamlining volunteer management and participation.
Propel was an early investor in Mobilize, recognizing that the company’s ability to provide sophisticated digital tools for organizers—tools that also allow them to control and own their organization's data—created meaningful value for organizations seeking scalable, secure ways to engage supporters. In 2020, Mobilize was acquired by EveryAction and is now widely used by nonprofits and organizations nationwide as a core engagement and organizing platform.
Mursion
Mursion is a virtual reality software solution using a blend of AI and human interaction to expand human capacity for empathy and understanding. Through focused simulations of interpersonal skills, including active listening, de-escalation of social conflict, constructive feedback, and respecting diverse cultures, Mursion provides impactful experiential learning that can change behavior and build skills critical for the workplace and beyond.
Propel was among the first investors in Mursion as the company expanded from its roots as a tool for teacher training. Today, Mursion delivers its immersive simulations to a growing number of healthcare providers and Fortune 500 companies in addition to preparing the next generation of educators.
Change Justice
Tackling a legal system rife with inequities
In 2013, we launched Propel Justice, believing that America’s high rates of incarceration are a grave injustice in our country. Recognizing that systemic change takes time, Propel invested in support for people impacted by the current system. At theVera Institute, at the time a driving force in reimagining the criminal legal system, Propel provided flexible, multi-year support during a crucial transition, helping to catapult the organization into its current key leadership role. Another early partner, theCenter for Justice Innovation, has pioneered community courts and restorative justice solutions, demonstrating alternative strategies for keeping communities safe. Our work has also included expanding access to college in prison through the creation of the Center for Prison Education at Wesleyan, where we helped secure a full Bachelor’s degree program for students who are incarcerated; restoration of federal Pell Grant funding for college students in prison; and support for Vera’s Restoring Promise initiative to transform how young adults are treated in adult prison. In 2019, we launched our Propel Justice Fellowship to support formerly incarcerated students to continue their college education when they come home, connect to expanded networks and resources, and inform our thinking on these critical issues. Our inaugural Justice Fellow James Jeter helped launch the Full Citizens Coalition, which supports returning citizens adjusting to life outside prison and advocates for the rights of people who are incarcerated.
Through our Propel Justice portfolio we continue to advocate for strategies that make communities safe and help returning citizens contribute and build productive lives for themselves and their families when they return home.
Bet on People
Unleashing talent and game-changing ideas
Since the beginning we have prioritized deep, trusted relationships with the extraordinary leaders and teams behind the organizations we fund. As we do with our venture investments, we take risks on people who may not have access to capital and networks, but have drive, ideas, and a strong sense of purpose to create positive change.
Through Propel Talent, we extend this approach to young people beginning their careers and formerly incarcerated students, providing direct and financial support to help build the next generation of social impact talent.
SHOFCO
Jeremy and Sarah met Kennedy Odede when he was a student at Wesleyan University working to build Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO). Kennedy grew up in Kibera, Africa’s largest slum with 2.5 million people living in a space smaller than Central Park, and started SHOFCO as a teenager to transform urban slums with a locally-led, community-driven approach. It was clear early on that SHOFCO was a powerful idea and we leaned in to support Kennedy’s vision, scaling our participation as SHOFCO has grown. In 2018, SHOFCO became the youngest organization ever to receive the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize, the world's largest annual humanitarian award presented to non-profits that have made extraordinary contributions toward alleviating human suffering. Kennedy Odede went on to be awarded the prestigious 2025 United Nations Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela Prize for his transformative work in urban slums.
In March 2020, at the onset of COVID-19 in Kenya, SHOFCO launched an unprecedented, community-led rapid response through its SHOFCO Urban Network (SUN), reaching residents immediately with screenings, household supply distribution, and clean water access, while partnering with GiveDirectly to distribute nearly $1.2 million in cash assistance to thousands of families. The response demonstrated SUN’s power to mobilize quickly and effectively in hard-to-reach urban communities, solidifying SHOFCO’s role as a trusted partner for government, corporate, and NGO stakeholders.
SHOFCO’s community-led model, powered by SUN, reaches 2M+ of people across much of Kenya and mobilizes a large member base to access essential services and drive local change. Through youth training, expanded access to safe water, support for survivors of gender-based violence, and primary healthcare delivery, the organization strengthens community wellbeing. Across its platforms, students attend SHOFCO schools, teens receive mentorship in libraries, individuals complete entrepreneurship training, and members build savings through their community lending institution — advancing health, education, safety, and financial resilience at scale.
Propel Fellowships
At Propel we have a deep commitment to investing in future social impact leaders and extending our financial and social network to others as they learn and enter the field.
Since 2018, we have provided Propel NYC Fellowships, in partnership with the City University of New York, to develop early career skills and provide learning opportunities for first-generation college students. Fellows work closely with our team between academic semesters, returning during the school year to work on short-term projects and gain guidance as they explore new opportunities. We provide ongoing career coaching and networking services as Fellows graduate and begin their careers.
In 2019, in partnership with an anonymous donor, we established aPropel Justice Fellowship, following Sarah’s extensive work with the Center for Prison Education at Wesleyan University and our interest in providing ongoing support for students in the program post-release. Our Propel Justice fellow, James Jeter, a former CPE student, is now the founder of the Full Citizens Coalition, which helps returning citizens adjust to life outside prison and advocates for the rights of people who are incarcerated.
Through Propel Talent we also have longstanding partnerships with several institutions serving young people, including the Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship at Wesleyan University and Coro New York Leadership Center. Through these partnerships we mentor and advise future leaders, designing curriculum and immersive learning experiences to expand their knowledge of the issues Propel seeks to address.