Education

Historically, donating to venture capital funds and startups—whether with cash or through donor-advised funds—has been cumbersome.

Today, CataCap makes donating as simple as placing an e-commerce order—unlocking access to an estimated $325B in donor-advised funds across the United States. This innovation in venture capital allows donors to have a dual impact: donations support mission-driven startups and venture capital funds solving critical challenges, and if there are returns, donors can redeploy those funds into other opportunities on CataCap or donate them to another nonprofit.

Donors on CataCap receive the same terms as other investors in a fund or startup financing round—making it an excellent way for investor-philanthropists to “practice” investing. être invites investor-philanthropists to participate in our venture capital education program and “training wheels” fund, designed to help women and minorities build confidence in venture capital investing.

être is currently soft-circling donors—expressing interest without committing funds—who want to support our mission-driven portfolio companies. Once we’ve soft-circled $25K, we’ll share a link to fund your commitment. At $50K, funds are transferred and deployed into our current fund.

Donations to être’s venture capital fund—whether via cash (credit card, ACH, stock) or a donor-advised fund—create three impacts:

• Your tax-deductible donation supports vital technologies developed by overlooked founders that expand healthcare access, accelerate affordable housing, address climate change, and reduce waste.
• Potential returns will increase your philanthropic giving.
• You’ll become an investor—a limited partner in être’s current fund—and gain firsthand experience in how venture capital works: how funds operate, how investment decisions are made, and how we help startups scale and exits.