Lumina Impact Ventures

Lumina Impact Ventures (LIV) is the $50 million impact investing arm of Lumina Foundation, founded in 2015 and based in Indianapolis, Indiana. The fund deploys approximately $5 million per year over a decade to advance racial equity and expand learning opportunities beyond high school to all Americans. LIV invests in solutions designed to scale educational attainment among Black, Hispanic, and Native American students, while explicitly elevating entrepreneurs of color and those from low-income backgrounds. Managing Director John Duong, whose background spans J.P. Morgan, Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, has led the fund since its formation. LIV has made 23 investments, writing checks of $500,000 to $1.5 million primarily at seed and Series A, though the fund is stage-agnostic. The portfolio spans 11 direct company investments and 4 accelerator-backed investments. Named portfolio companies include EdVisorly, an educational training services company and the fund's most recent investment from November 2023; Mainstay, an AI chatbot platform that improves student engagement and persistence; and Coastal Enterprises, a specialized community development finance institution. The fund combines financial investment with strategic mission alignment, drawing on Lumina Foundation's established network across the higher education sector. LIV fosters a collaborative and founder-friendly investment culture, pairing capital with access to Lumina Foundation's policy influence, research capabilities, and relationships with educational institutions and philanthropic organizations. The fund's model aims to demonstrate that impact-aligned capital can generate financial returns while meaningfully moving the needle on one of the most persistent equity gaps in American society.