NEW RISING VENTURES

IN 2025, NEW RISING VENTURES CONTINUED TO BUILD STRONG MOMENTUM ACROSS OUR RESPONSIBLE AI AND LATINE VOICES FOR DEMOCRACY INITIATIVES, WHILE DEEPENING OUR FOCUS ON INTERNAL CULTURE AND OPERATIONAL SUSTAINABILITY. LATINE VOICES FOR DEMOCRACY (LV4D) IS THE FIRST U.S.-BASED ACCELERATOR OF ITS KIND DELIVERED BILINGUALLY AND FOCUSED ON LATINE-LED NEWS ORGANIZATIONS AND CONTENT CREATORS. IT IS DESIGNED TO STRENGTHEN LOCAL INFORMATION ECOSYSTEMS, ADVANCE NONPARTISAN CIVIC EDUCATION, SUPPORT COMMUNITY-SERVING JOURNALISM, AND EMPOWER TRUSTED LATINE-LED ORGANIZATIONS TO COMBAT MISINFORMATION AND FOSTER CIVIC ENGAGEMENT. IN 2025, WE EXPANDED LV4D BY LAUNCHING A SECOND ACCELERATOR COHORT, BRINGING CREATORS AND LOCAL NEWSROOMS TOGETHER AS EQUAL PARTNERS IN INFORMING THE PUBLIC AND ENCOURAGING CIVIC PARTICIPATION. OVER SEVEN MONTHS, PARTICIPANTS RECEIVE TARGETED MENTORSHIP, TRAINING, AND PARTNERSHIP SUPPORT FROM MISSION-ALIGNED TECHNOLOGY AND MEDIA ORGANIZATIONS TO DEEPEN THEIR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, STORYTELLING, AND AUDIENCE-BUILDING CAPACITY, AS WELL AS CAPITAL, TECHNICAL TOOLS, AND TRAINING ON CAPITAL STRUCTURE AND IMPACT MEASUREMENT TO SUPPORT THEIR LONG-TERM SUSTAINABILITY. A MAJOR MILESTONE WAS THE LAUNCH OF OUR RESPONSIBLE AI FUNDING CYCLE UNDER THE RISING FUND, UNDERSCORING BOTH THE STRENGTH OF THE APPLICANT POOL AND OUR COMMITMENT TO BACKING HIGH-IMPACT ORGANIZATIONS AT THE INTERSECTION OF TECHNOLOGY, DEMOCRACY, AND SOCIAL GOOD. WE ALSO MADE TARGETED INVESTMENTS IN ORGANIZATIONAL CAPACITY DURING THE 2025 TAX YEAR, HIRING AND ONBOARDING A DIRECTOR OF FUNDRAISING TO SHARPEN OUR DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY AND EXTERNAL ENGAGEMENT, AND TRANSITIONING TO A NEW ACCOUNTING FIRM TO SUPPORT LONG-TERM FINANCIAL STABILITY AND OPERATIONAL RIGOR. THROUGHOUT THE YEAR, WE CONVENED MULTIPLE FUNDER BRIEFINGS AND IN-PERSON GATHERINGS TO DEEPEN ENGAGEMENT, SHARE LEARNINGS, AND BUILD ALIGNMENT WITH OUR FUNDING PARTNERS. PORTFOLIO SUPPORT REMAINED A CORE PRIORITY, AS WE CONTINUED TO BACK EARLY- STAGE, NONPARTISAN ENTREPRENEURS AND ACTIVISTS TRANSFORMING OUR DEMOCRACY THROUGH INNOVATION. OUR TEAM MET WITH MORE THAN 50 FOUNDERS OVER THE COURSE OF THE YEAR, PROVIDING TAILORED GUIDANCE ON FUNDRAISING, PITCH AND DECK DEVELOPMENT, STRATEGIC POSITIONING, AND ORGANIZATIONAL TRANSITIONS, AND CONNECTING THEM TO MORE THAN 70 FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES. THIS WAS ALSO A YEAR OF EXPERIMENTATION FOR OUR PORTFOLIO SUPPORT PROGRAM, INCLUDING A PILOT OF PEER COHORTS FOCUSED ON COMMUNITY-BUILDING, WHERE FOUNDERS EXPLORED TOPICS SUCH AS FINDING PRODUCT-MARKET FIT, NAVIGATING ACQUISITIONS, AND SELECTING THE RIGHT HR TOOLS. WE LAUNCHED THREE NEW ONGOING PEER COHORTS WITH EXISTING PORTFOLIO ORGANIZATIONSBUILDING & SCALING (FOR FOR-PROFIT FOUNDERS), PEOPLE OPERATIONS, AND COMMUNITY SUPPORTTHAT MEET QUARTERLY TO PROVIDE STRUCTURED PEER LEARNING AND STRATEGIC SUPPORT, WITH FOUNDER-DRIVEN AGENDAS AND FACILITATED GUIDANCE WHERE NEEDED. WE CONTINUED TO ENGAGE OUR ANGEL SUPPORTER NETWORK ON A QUARTERLY BASIS THROUGH A REFRESHED OUTREACH STRATEGY, WHILE SPOTLIGHTING AND SHARING UPDATES ON OUR PORTFOLIO ORGANIZATIONS. AS PART OF OUR PROGRAMMATIC WORK, WE ALSO HOSTED A SERIES OF CONVENINGSINCLUDING PARTICIPATION IN LA TECH WEEKWHERE WE CO-HOSTED THE SECOND ANNUAL CHANGEMAKER FILM SHOWCASE WITH THE MICHAEL LATT LEGACY FUND, CELEBRATING UNDERREPRESENTED FILMMAKERS DRIVING SOCIAL CHANGE AND ADVANCING INNOVATIVE MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS FOR A MORE INCLUSIVE AND RESILIENT DEMOCRACY. WE ALSO EXPANDED OUR COMMUNICATIONS AND THOUGHT LEADERSHIP. WE LAUNCHED AN NRV SUBSTACK TO SHARE UPDATES, RESEARCH, AND ECOSYSTEM INSIGHTS, INCLUDING THE LAUNCH ANNOUNCEMENT FOR THE RISING FUND AND OUR 2025 RESPONSIBLE AI COHORT, AS WELL AS ANALYTIC PIECES SUCH AS RESPONSIBLE AI INVESTMENT CYCLE 2025: INSIGHTS & EMERGING TRENDS, EVALUATING RESPONSIBLE AI: HOW PURPOSE, PEOPLE, AND PROGRESS DRIVE TECHNOLOGY FOR GOOD, AND BUILDING AI FOR THE PUBLIC GOOD: PRELIMINARY INSIGHTS FROM OUR RESPONSIBLE AI PIPELINE, WHICH TOGETHER SURFACED FUNDING GAPS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR TECHNOLOGY THAT SERVES VULNERABLE COMMUNITIES. WE ADDITIONALLY PUBLISHED AI AS A BATTLEGROUND FOR POWER: BUILDING THE FUTURE OF RESPONSIBLE TECHNOLOGY AND TWO ARTICLES DOCUMENTING OUR LATINE VOICES FOR DEMOCRACY ACCELERATORINSIDE LV4D: KEY INSIGHTS & LEARNINGS FROM THE FIRST US-BASED ACCELERATOR FOR LATINO-LED MEDIA AND A RECAP OF OUR SECOND-COHORT KICK-OFFSHARING LESSONS FROM BILINGUAL, LATINO-LED MEDIA ORGANIZATIONS AND CREATORS WORKING TO STRENGTHEN CIVIC INFRASTRUCTURE. THROUGHOUT 2025, THE NRV BOARD PLAYED A CRITICAL ROLE IN STRATEGIC PLANNING, FINANCIAL OVERSIGHT, AND ECOSYSTEM CONNECTION-BUILDING, HELPING TO ADVANCE THE MISSION AND LONG-TERM SUSTAINABILITY OF NEW RISING VENTURES.