After another year of purposefully investing in impactful private sector innovation, we made 2 new investments in companies that bring high quality, accessible education and training opportunities to millions of learners, while supporting our existing portfolio of companies to drive a more prosperous and inclusive future for everyone.
We partner with entrepreneurs across the human capital development sector toward a common goal of building educational access, capacity and outcomes through innovation. We work hand in hand with our companies to grow both their businesses and the impact they have on the stakeholders they serve.
Read more about our approach in our Annual Impact Report.
Our approach to impact has three pillars
Assess Landscape
We evaluate the structural dynamics of every segment we invest in
Invest in Quality, Access & Equity
We approach investing with a focus on achieving three key objectives: quality, access and equity
Measure Impact
We track metrics specific to each company through their respective journeys
We actualize this approach by utilizing various frameworks and tools that embed impact into every step of our investment process
01We take a dynamic approach to sourcing, including thematic market assessments and a systematic approach to building our network. We seek out mission-oriented founders from a diversity of backgrounds. We focus on proprietary opportunities aligned with broader impact theses and market trends.
02Our diligence process is designed to deepen our understanding of the prospective company’s thesis to improve outcomes for students and educators, which we assess alongside the company’s business model. We put a premium on services that benefit marginalized and disadvantaged communities, and look to uncover opportunities to more deeply embed accessibility and outcomes into the product or service. We seek out rigorously produced, ideally research-backed and data-centric analyses to inform our investment decisions.
03We formalize accountability with portfolio companies through explicit conversations with CEOs and impact side letters or other legal documentation. We always ideate and co-create the appropriate accountability with CEOs as Lumos may be the first investor to ask for this accountability around impact.
04We engage management teams in regular dialogue on impact priorities as the business scales. Lumos has developed a playbook for supporting portfolio companies that includes specific impact-related levers. For example, for talent needs, we support our companies with recruiting channels that source candidates from traditionally underrepresented groups. Similarly for follow-on financing, we introduce to our portfolio companies debt and equity investors from our network of impact-oriented capital providers.
05In partnership with our founders, Lumos builds relationships with impact aligned strategic and financial partners, and serves as a point of accountability at the board level in considering potential exit opportunities that serve our stakeholders.
The 10,000 Foot View
Learners globallyCollectively, our portfolio serves over 5.5M learners globally, across B2B, B2C, B2G and B2B2C business models that unlock access and improve outcomes, especially for low-income, minority, and disadvantaged populations via freemium models, third party payer arrangements, and partnerships, among other business models.
CountriesLanguagesThrough free and paid products and services, our companies bridged learning and skills gaps for learners in all 192 countries, through multiple languages, including English, French, Spanish, Indian, Arabic, Portuguese, Dutch, and German.
K-12 districts and schools servedHigher Education Institutions
Career OutcomesWe define a career outcome as when an active user of a portfolio company credits the company with having helped them positively in their career trajectory. This could include any of the following ways: securing a new job, internship, apprenticeship, landing a new job as a result of internal mobility, starting a new business, mastering a necessary skill, graduating from a skills training program, or getting a new job title and/or a salary increase.
Read more about the impact across our portfolio in our Annual Impact Report.
