Skoll Foundation

Investment Strategy

The Skoll Foundation was established in 1999 by Jeff Skoll, the first president of eBay, with a mission to invest in, connect, and champion social entrepreneurs and innovators who help solve the world’s most pressing problems. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, the foundation manages approximately $2 billion in total assets and distributes over $100 million annually in grants and investments.

The foundation’s investment portfolio is managed to sustain this level of grantmaking in perpetuity. The endowment is allocated across public equities, fixed income, private equity, venture capital, and a growing pool of impact-oriented investments. The portfolio’s construction reflects both conventional institutional investment principles and the foundation’s commitment to aligning capital with its mission.

The Skoll Foundation’s grantmaking focuses on four interconnected areas: climate change mitigation and adaptation, health equity, economic opportunity, and accountable governance. Since its founding, the foundation has supported over 100 social entrepreneurs and organizations across more than 100 countries. This global network of grantees informs the foundation’s understanding of market opportunities and systemic challenges, which in turn shapes its investment perspective.

The foundation is also the convener of the annual Skoll World Forum, held at the University of Oxford’s Said Business School. The forum brings together social entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers, and thought leaders, and serves as a key venue for the foundation’s engagement with the broader impact investing community. Jeff Skoll’s broader portfolio of activities also includes Participant Media, the film production company behind socially conscious films, and the Skoll Global Threats Fund.

Private Markets Approach

The Skoll Foundation allocates a portion of its endowment to private equity, venture capital, and impact investments. The private markets program reflects the foundation’s roots in Silicon Valley’s technology and venture capital ecosystem, with an orientation toward innovation-driven strategies.

The foundation has been an early adopter of mission-related investing within its endowment. This includes commitments to private equity and venture capital funds that target sectors aligned with the foundation’s programmatic priorities, such as clean energy, health technology, financial inclusion, and sustainable agriculture. The foundation evaluates these investments on both financial return potential and their capacity to generate measurable social or environmental outcomes.

In venture capital specifically, the Skoll Foundation has supported funds investing in early-stage companies that address market failures in underserved communities and developing economies. The foundation’s deep relationships with social entrepreneurs globally provide it with differentiated insight into where market-based solutions are gaining traction and where capital gaps exist.

The foundation also participates in co-investment opportunities alongside other mission-aligned institutional investors. The Skoll Foundation’s network within the impact investing community, cultivated through the Skoll World Forum and partnerships with organizations like the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN), facilitates access to deal flow that sits at the intersection of financial return and social impact.

Fund managers seeking engagement with the Skoll Foundation should demonstrate a clear connection between their investment strategy and the foundation’s core focus areas. The foundation’s team values evidence of impact alongside financial track record, and managers who can articulate measurable outcomes are better positioned to capture the foundation’s attention.