The Schmidt Family Foundation
Palo Alto, California, United StatesFounded 2006
The Schmidt Family Foundation employs a venture philanthropy approach, prioritizing social returns over financial gains to address global challenges. They utilize flexible capital, including low-interest loans, equity stakes, and recoverable grants, to invest in early-stage projects focused on environmental sustainability, such as clean energy, healthy food systems, and ocean health, as well as human rights and community development.
71% of their portfolio is in Climate & Energy. Their most common stage is series-a (57% of deals). Average disclosed round size is $32.3M (across 6 rounds with reported amounts).
Portfolio
7
Fund Size
$2B
Top Stage
Series A
Last 12 Mo
0
Portfolio Breakdown
Stage Distribution
Sector Distribution
Investment Activity
DealsAvg Round Size
Portfolio
7 investments
| Company | Round | Amount | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| NNotpla | Unknown | $25.4M | Sep 2024 |
| RRefiberd | Seed | $3.4M | Aug 2023 |
 Kelvin | Series A | $30M | May 2023 |
 BlocPower | Series A | $63M | Feb 2021 |
 SparkMeter | Series A | $12M | Aug 2020 |
 Saildrone, Inc. | Series B | $60M | May 2018 |
 Nebia | Series A | — | — |
Top Co-Investors
Horizon Ventures2 shared
Apple1 shared
Airbnb1 shared
Better1 shared
Carnegie Mellon University1 shared
National Science Foundation1 shared
Lux Capital1 shared
Clean Energy Ventures1 shared
Breakthrough Energy Ventures1 shared
Goodwell1 shared
Alitheia Capital1 shared
Total Energy Ventures1 shared
Incite1 shared
Powerhouse Ventures1 shared
Factor[e]1 shared
AccelR81 shared
Kapor Capital1 shared
Elemental Excelerator1 shared
Last updated: 16 April 2026