Our Philosophy

We are optimists. The world can be a vibrant, mutualistic ecosystem - it just needs a little nudge.

At a time when the world is facing both climate and human health crises, there are good reasons to be skeptical of this outlook. Despite sustained economic growth which has drastically reduced global poverty, the extractive nature of our current system has led to existential environmental concerns, leading the World Health Organization to identify climate change as the greatest threat to global health in the twenty-first century.

This conundrum—where progress has generated both advancement and new challenges—is particularly evident in our food systems. The world produces enough food to feed itself twice over, yet 700 million people remain food insecure. Public health initiatives like vaccines and antibiotics have extended lifespans, yet 129 million Americans now suffer from chronic diseases. Human ingenuity has driven remarkable progress, but significant gaps remain in the journey toward shared prosperity. These interdependent challenges are succinctly illustrated by the visual adapted from Hannah Ritchie below.

The complexity of our current condition is, paradoxically, reason for hope. In an interconnected system, small, targeted changes can trigger seismic shifts. Like the tipping of a domino, these changes generate ripple effects, propelling us towards a more desirable equilibrium. We believe that a brighter future combines the power of market-based innovation with an honest acknowledgment of its limitations, providing the nudge necessary to catalyze change where it’s needed most.

Our Purpose

Chronic Social Ventures seeks to invest in overlooked entrepreneurs building in areas which are underfunded relative to their social impact potential, particularly at the intersection of climate and health. Although many entrepreneurs are attempting to tackle the root cause of health and environmental crises, they often struggle to make the leap from research into sustainable business models, in part because they lack support to do so.

To illustrate, let’s take an honest look at our food system: The Rockefeller Foundation estimates that for every dollar we spend on food in the United States, we spend another dollar on healthcare treatment. More broadly, the total social, economic, and health costs of our current food system are at least three times the national United States expenditure on food itself. Each step forward is three steps back.

Despite the staggering scale of the problem, the resources devoted to solving it are woefully insufficient. Food systems contribute 22% of global greenhouse gas emissions but receive only 8% of climate tech investment. Meanwhile, 85% of medical spending is still devoted to managing diet-related chronic diseases, rather than preventing them. Worse still, climate investment in food systems plummeted by 55% last year—the largest drop of any sector. Not only are we trying to fill a bucket with droplets, but there’s a hole in the bottom. Without structural fixes, our efforts risk futility.

Our current system lacks (i) the appropriate allocation of capital to address the magnitude of the problem, (ii) the resilience to maintain momentum when obstacles emerge, and (iii) institutions designed with accountability to the populations they seek to support.

Our model is intentionally designed to address each of those shortcomings.

Our Approach

Chronic Social Ventures is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. By providing early-stage startups with patient capital—investment that prioritizes long-term societal impact over short-term financial returns–we seek to break the inertia preventing radical innovations from taking flight. Our charitable purpose both requires and empowers us to assess investment opportunities with an impact-first mindset. While this may seem intuitive, it is a departure from the norm in the rapidly growing field of impact investing.

Over the past decade, impact investing has grown into a trillion-dollar market. Inconsistent standards, however, have often diluted its potential, causing many well-meaning funds to replicate traditional finance approaches rather than prioritizing meaningful change. As a nonprofit, we take a different approach: we focus on (i) pricing investments to reflect their true societal value and (ii) viewing capital as a tool to address collective challenges in planetary health—not as an end in itself. By embracing early-stage risks and seeing opportunities where others see challenges, we unlock new markets for sustainable, health-focused innovation. This approach not only accelerates the path to commercialization but also de-risks social innovation, attracting follow-on investors to historically underfunded areas. This fosters a collaborative ecosystem with the social license to dream big, creating solutions that might otherwise stall without our support.

Our organization is also designed as an evergreen fund, meaning any financial investment returns we generate are recycled and reinvested to support future entrepreneurs, rather than distributed to investors. For benefactors, this multiplies the impact of each donation, creating a legacy which compounds in perpetuity. For our organization, it fosters financial sustainability and ties our success to our effectiveness as capital stewards. For entrepreneurs, this provides psychological safety–knowing that the future of our organization is intertwined with theirs and that we share purpose, they are free to express not only pecuniary concerns but also those of mission, vision and values–which are the fuel that keeps the candle burning.

We want to be the match, lighting the spark which ignites visionary breakthroughs. This requires taking risks that traditional investors often avoid. The rewards, however, are worth it–a future where people, planet and prosperity coexist in harmony. We seek to create a beacon for the builders, investors, philanthropists, and social innovators who remain optimistic in the face of adversity.

As an organization in our infancy, we understand the path before us is long. But as we’ve been lucky enough to see in hospitals, operating rooms, farms, ranches, boardrooms, plant floors, stores, distribution centers and labs across the country–we are not alone in our ambition. We are excited to partner with those who share our enthusiasm for the journey.

Your support of our mission today helps build a better tomorrow. Your donations drive transformation for both the climate and human health, without compromising either. By carrying this spirit of action back to your community, you help lay the groundwork for a broader movement rooted in resilience. Together, we can vitalize populations and the natural systems on which they depend, creating a healthy, sustainable future for us all.

Thank you for being part of the journey.

Our Philosophy, Purpose & Approach