Our investment focus
As the leading organization fighting to improve mom and baby health, we stay current on the latest science breakthroughs and solutions in the market that address the needs of families in communities nationwide. With our Innovation Fund, we seek to support promising companies with proven or strong potential for impact, and that are poised to benefit from March of Dimes’ investment and support.
With our Fund we will:
- Accelerate the timeline from discovery to commercialization.
- Invest in innovations that focus on key drivers of maternal and infant health outcomes, such as:
- Preventing spontaneous preterm birth, birth defects, and other adverse newborn outcomes
- Providing support after adverse perinatal outcomes
- Reducing adverse outcomes driven by non-medically indicated inductions and Cesareans
- Reducing adverse pregnancy outcomes due to cardiovascular disease
- Improving support for chronic maternal stress and maternal mental health conditions
- Leverage our staff and network of volunteers who have expertise in the medical, scientific, and venture fields to inform our investment choices.
- Generate returns to reinvest in the Fund and March of Dimes mission, creating a sustainable model for future investments.
Our investment approach
We aim to be a strategic investor—providing not just capital, but also actively supporting portfolio companies with our domain expertise, market presence, and other assets.
Our focus is on early-stage companies, preferably those seeking Seed or Series A funding, but we’ll consider later stages. We also look to partner with others in investing, such as venture capital firms, corporate venture teams, technology transfer offices, and other organizations actively engaged in identifying and investing in companies that align to our focus areas.
If you're an early-stage company seeking funding, please submit this initial application form here.
If you're interested in learning more about our Innovation Fund, please reach out to Eric Schaefer at [email protected]
If you're interested in making a philanthropic contribution to our Innovation Fund, please reach out to Karyn DeMartini at [email protected]