Today we are happy to share our renewed thesis and mission at Reach: investing in founders who elevate human potential and ignite purpose across learning, health and work.
For those of you who have followed us, this refreshed thesis may come as no surprise. At our core, Reach cares deeply about enabling everyone to live their best lives. When we started in 2015, our focus was on funding founders working at the intersection of technology and education. Many of our investments were in solutions for learners during their formal schooling years, such as Nearpod (instruction), Outschool (learning marketplace), Stellic (graduation planner) and Lovevery (developmental kits for young children). Acknowledging that learning continues well into adulthood and provides a path to economic mobility, we invested in companies like Handshake (jobs for college students) and Replit (online coding workspace).
The common thread across all our investments has been this: elevating the potential of people and communities by supporting learners, educators, parents, adults, and workforces, in schools, at home, in their first jobs and beyond.
Technology has enabled us to make great strides in improving human productivity and access to opportunity. Now, as we examine its impact on the future of societal development, we also see enormous hunger for purpose. Purpose enables people to live healthier, happier and longer lives — and when purposeful people come together, communities thrive. Yet only one quarter of Americans say they have a clear sense of purpose.
Here lies our opportunity: to elevate human potential and ignite purpose by investing in companies that are innovating across learning, health and work.
- Learning has been core to Reach from Day 1 and will continue to be. While we have traditionally focused on school-based tools, we have expanded our investments to consumer tools like Brilliant, which helps anyone learn math, science and computer science, and vertical-specific solutions like Stepful, which provides training for the healthcare workforce.
- Health is foundational to learning and thriving. We are investing in startups that make access to care more effective and accessible, increase the supply of healthcare workers, and equip clinicians to practice at the top of their game. We’ve invested in companies like Coral Care, which helps parents find access to high-quality pediatric therapy specialists, and Cartwheel, which helps schools offer behavioral health services at scale.
- Work is ultimately where learning is applied, yet many people remain unfulfilled or unable to make ends meet. We’ve invested in startups that enable meaningful work and vibrant careers. Replit gives everyone software-building superpowers. WorkWhile helps hourly workers find work opportunities that fit their lives. As AI reshapes labor markets, we are eager to back founders who are leading the charge in deploying this technology in ways that support everyone in this critical part of our lives.
As the pace of technological change accelerates, it’s not always clear what people will need to know, or how we all will work and thrive. What we do know is that we need solutions that enable anyone to learn, grow, and strive toward their purpose. We are more excited than ever about these opportunities arising across learning, health, and work.
If you feel inspired and want to connect with us, please reach out!
(Cover photo: The Reach Capital team and portfolio founders at Founders’ Day 2024)