Knight Foundation Investments & Fund Profile

Overview

Invests in journalism, arts, and media innovation for engaged communities.

Founded

1950

Deals · 12mo

1

Links

Website LinkedIn X (Twitter)

Stage focus

Seed

Series A

Geographic focus

United States

Sector focus

Art

Association

Communities

Digital Media

...

Investment portfolio

35rounds

LedParticipated

NAME	DATE	SIZE
Bluesky	Mar 2026Participated	$100 MSeries B
stream.io	Aug 2020Participated	$15 MSeries A
Stream	Aug 2020Participated	$15 MSeries A
Newspack	Jan 2019Participated	$2 MOther Equity
NewsGuard	Mar 2018Participated	$6 MOther Equity
CODE2040	Nov 2017Participated	$6 MOther Equity
FORWARD Platform	Sep 2016Participated	$3 MSeed
Vemba	Jun 2016Participated	$5 MSeries A
Crisis Text Line	Jun 2016Participated	$24 MSeries B
Ripple.co	May 2016Participated	$4 MSeries A
Nearpod	May 2016Participated	$9 MSeries A
Authorea	Jan 2016Led	$2 MSeed
Bluesky	Mar 2026Participated	$100 MSeries B
stream.io	Aug 2020Participated	$15 MSeries A
Stream	Aug 2020Participated	$15 MSeries A
Newspack	Jan 2019Participated	$2 MOther Equity
NewsGuard	Mar 2018Participated	$6 MOther Equity
CODE2040	Nov 2017Participated	$6 MOther Equity
FORWARD Platform	Sep 2016Participated	$3 MSeed
Vemba	Jun 2016Participated	$5 MSeries A
Crisis Text Line	Jun 2016Participated	$24 MSeries B
Ripple.co	May 2016Participated	$4 MSeries A
Nearpod	May 2016Participated	$9 MSeries A
Authorea	Jan 2016Led	$2 MSeed

35 Items

35

Items

...

Browse all public portfolio deals

Insights

Time horizon

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Deal Distribution

Knight Foundation: 35 funding rounds are recorded in the selected participation categories. All available history
Round type	Led deals	Participated deals
Seed	2	7
Series A	0	8
Series B	0	4
Other Equity	3	9
Grant	2	0

Monthly Deal Activity

Knight Foundation: 35 deals are recorded across 192 months. All available history
Month	Deals
Nov '10	1
Dec '10	0
Jan '11	0
Feb '11	0
Mar '11	0
Apr '11	0
May '11	0
Jun '11	0
Jul '11	0
Aug '11	0
Sep '11	0
Oct '11	0
Nov '11	0
Dec '11	0
Jan '12	0
Feb '12	0
Mar '12	0
Apr '12	0
May '12	1
Jun '12	0
Jul '12	0
Aug '12	0
Sep '12	1
Oct '12	3
Nov '12	0
Dec '12	1
Jan '13	0
Feb '13	2
Mar '13	0
Apr '13	1
May '13	0
Jun '13	0
Jul '13	0
Aug '13	1
Sep '13	2
Oct '13	0
Nov '13	0
Dec '13	0
Jan '14	1
Feb '14	1
Mar '14	0
Apr '14	0
May '14	0
Jun '14	0
Jul '14	1
Aug '14	0
Sep '14	1
Oct '14	0
Nov '14	1
Dec '14	0
Jan '15	0
Feb '15	0
Mar '15	0
Apr '15	2
May '15	0
Jun '15	1
Jul '15	0
Aug '15	1
Sep '15	0
Oct '15	1
Nov '15	0
Dec '15	0
Jan '16	1
Feb '16	0
Mar '16	0
Apr '16	0
May '16	2
Jun '16	2
Jul '16	0
Aug '16	0
Sep '16	1
Oct '16	0
Nov '16	0
Dec '16	0
Jan '17	0
Feb '17	0
Mar '17	0
Apr '17	0
May '17	0
Jun '17	0
Jul '17	0
Aug '17	0
Sep '17	0
Oct '17	0
Nov '17	1
Dec '17	0
Jan '18	0
Feb '18	0
Mar '18	1
Apr '18	0
May '18	0
Jun '18	0
Jul '18	0
Aug '18	0
Sep '18	0
Oct '18	0
Nov '18	0
Dec '18	0
Jan '19	1
Feb '19	0
Mar '19	0
Apr '19	0
May '19	0
Jun '19	0
Jul '19	0
Aug '19	0
Sep '19	0
Oct '19	0
Nov '19	0
Dec '19	0
Jan '20	0
Feb '20	0
Mar '20	0
Apr '20	0
May '20	0
Jun '20	0
Jul '20	0
Aug '20	2
Sep '20	0
Oct '20	0
Nov '20	0
Dec '20	0
Jan '21	0
Feb '21	0
Mar '21	0
Apr '21	0
May '21	0
Jun '21	0
Jul '21	0
Aug '21	0
Sep '21	0
Oct '21	0
Nov '21	0
Dec '21	0
Jan '22	0
Feb '22	0
Mar '22	0
Apr '22	0
May '22	0
Jun '22	0
Jul '22	0
Aug '22	0
Sep '22	0
Oct '22	0
Nov '22	0
Dec '22	0
Jan '23	0
Feb '23	0
Mar '23	0
Apr '23	0
May '23	0
Jun '23	0
Jul '23	0
Aug '23	0
Sep '23	0
Oct '23	0
Nov '23	0
Dec '23	0
Jan '24	0
Feb '24	0
Mar '24	0
Apr '24	0
May '24	0
Jun '24	0
Jul '24	0
Aug '24	0
Sep '24	0
Oct '24	0
Nov '24	0
Dec '24	0
Jan '25	0
Feb '25	0
Mar '25	0
Apr '25	0
May '25	0
Jun '25	0
Jul '25	0
Aug '25	0
Sep '25	0
Oct '25	0
Nov '25	0
Dec '25	0
Jan '26	0
Feb '26	0
Mar '26	1
Apr '26	0
May '26	0
Jun '26	0
Jul '26	0
Aug '26	0
Sep '26	0
Oct '26	0

Sector Breakdown

A deal can appear in multiple sectors, so sector totals may overlap. Capital represents disclosed total round sizes, not fund cheque sizes.

Knight Foundation: Media & Entertainment is the largest displayed sector by deal count (18 deals). All available history
Sector	Deals
Media & Entertainment	18
Enterprise Software	12
Networks, Cloud & Communication	10
Education & Workforce	7
Government & Defense	7
Social & Community Platforms	7
Data, Analytics & IT	3
Marketing & Advertising	3
AR/VR	2
Consumer & Lifestyle	2
E-Commerce & Retail	1
Transportation & Logistics	1
Hardware & Robotics	1
Health & Life Sciences	1
Developer Tools	1

Deal Size Distribution

Undisclosed round sizes are excluded. Capital represents total round sizes, not fund cheque sizes.

Knight Foundation: 35 rounds have a disclosed size in the displayed size bands. All available history
Round size band (USD)	Deals
<$5M	22
$5M-$10M	7
$10M-$25M	5
$25M-$50M	0
$50M-$100M	0
$100M-$250M	1
$250M-$500M	0
$500M-$1B	0
$1B+	0

Deals By Geography

Top 4 of 4 regions; European countries are grouped as Europe.

Knight Foundation: United States has the largest recorded deal count among the displayed regions (31 deals). All available history
Region	Deals
United States	31
Europe	2
94104	1
Canada	1

Co-Investors

Bubble size = shared deals

Click a bubble to open that fund in a new tab.

Shows up to 20 co-investors ranked by shared deals. Deals may be shared with multiple funds, so rows overlap. Capital is total round size, not fund cheque size.

Knight Foundation: 20 co-investors are shown, with Stanford StartX fund sharing 4 recorded deals. All available history
Co-investor	Shared deals
Stanford StartX fund	4
Omidyar Network	3
01 Advisors	2
Arsenal Venture Partners	2
Arthur Ventures	2
Brooklyn Bridge Ventures	2
Comcast Ventures	2
GGV Capital	2
Krillion Ventures	2
Lerer Hippeau	2
Matter Venture Partners	2
Media Development Investment Fund	2
Owl Ventures	2
Quotidian Ventures	2
Reach Capital	2
Rothenberg Ventures	2
Social Leverage	2
Storm Ventures	2
True Ventures	2
500 Global	1