Upstart Co-lab is a new collaboration platform based in New York with national scope for the USA. It will build a bridge to connect artists with the opportunities of impact investing and social entrepreneurship, and will connect social innovators with the storytelling, improvisation and creative intelligence of artists.
Upstart Co-Lab will 1) Increase opportunities for artists as innovators — starting with greater recognition of artists’ accomplishments in the private, social and public sectors; 2) Catalyze more capital for creativity — by making creativity investable through public equity, debt and venture capital investment products; 3) Enable sustainable creative lives — equipping artists with crucial skills for executing their ideas, and linking eligible artists to existing social services and subsidies.
Upstart is funded by Ford Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and Surdna Foundation with in-kind support from the F.B. Heron Foundation. Upstart is a sponsored project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.
A portfolio of five projects is under development and will be implemented by the end of 2016. More information about the organization can be found at www.upstartco-lab.org.
Culture & Capital 