Apply for New Media Ventures

New Media Ventures funds across various fiscal structures, including for profit and nonprofit… We’re looking for scalable solutions from diverse, mission-driven teams that are working to advance progressive change. We’ll consider supporting:

  • – Early stage ventures working to build and scale solutions in this context
  • – New programs and / or collaborations of larger organizations that are positioned to develop new tech tools or other cutting edge approaches that could be transformative for the progressive movement

NMV funding is best suited for early-stage projects or startups (pre-seed/seed stage) for which a one-time investment of $50K to $150K can make a meaningful difference. Our mission is to support entrepreneurs and activists who are strengthening our democracy, building progressive political power, and/or empowering historically marginalized communities

Ultimately, we hope to find the best technology and innovations and love to be surprised by things we haven’t seen or considered before. You should look at our portfolio and our most recent investment slate to get a sense of the breadth of organizations we support.

Please see eligibility criteria listed below for more guidance on eligible startups and organizations:

  • – Early Stage nonprofit (501c3, c4, 527) and for-profit organizations
  • – With innovative solutions, tech tools, or programs with potential to scale
  • – Building the political power of communities marginalized by current and historic oppression
  • – In any of NMV’s sectors – media & narrative, advocacy & organizing, and/or elections & civic engagement
  • – At a stage where $50K - $150K in funding would be catalytic
  • – Based in and/or seeking to make an impact in the U.S.

We received word that our application was rejected, unfortunately! Here’s the reply we received:

Hi friend,

We greatly appreciate your application to New Media Ventures. After review from our team, we have decided to pass on this opportunity.

Unfortunately, due to the scale of submissions, we can’t provide specific feedback for your organization; however, the principal reason(s) we pass at this stage are because the submission is:

  1. Out of scope;
  2. Outside of our geo and/or limited in geography, and/or;
  3. At a stage where our funding would not be catalytic.

We know this is not the outcome you were hoping for, and we recognize and understand that starting something new is hard, and starting a project, company, or organization with a social mission can be even harder. Furthermore, we wanted to give faster responses; however, due to our team being affected by COVID, our communication and deadlines were compromised.

We are actively investigating how we might be helpful to people we aren’t funding directly right now and will be in touch if there are any opportunities to support your work. In fact, here is a spreadsheet of other funding opportunities we share with our portfolio companies.

As stated previously, we’re shifting our process in order to better align with our core principles of equity, responsiveness, and sustainability. Since we are shifting to a continuous investment cycle with two investment seasons each year – a spring season and a fall season-- there will be other opportunities to tell us about your work.

Finally, we will write more about lessons learned from our revamped investment model and about what we look for in the startups we invest in on our site. You can find our posts on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn for updates on upcoming events.

Thank you for your time and patience with us,
The NMV Team