# Blue Ridge Foundation

> Blue Ridge Foundation is a VC fund in Brooklyn backing Education and Software. See 22 investments, check sizes, portfolio and contact details. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Brooklyn, United States
- Total investments: 22
- Last investment: Jan 2021
- Lead investor: 50%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- X (Twitter): http://twitter.com/blue_ridge
- Website: http://brfny.org/
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/blueridgefoundationnewyork

Blue Ridge Foundation is a VC fund in Brooklyn focused on Education and Software. Blue Ridge Foundation social innovation incubator helps develop effective strategies for connecting people living in high poverty communities to the opportunities, resources, and support that they need to fulfill their full potential. Support for start-ups (nonprofit or for profit) includes up to $500,000 in seed funding over an organization’sfirst years; free space in Blue Ridge’s office; hands-on management assistance; and, access to a broad network of social sector leaders. Founded in 2000, Blue Ridge's startups have raised in excess of $110 million during their time in Blue Ridge’s portfolio and positively impacted tens of thousands of lives.

## Contacts

5 contacts available for Blue Ridge Foundation. Shizune tracks 1 team members at Blue Ridge Foundation. Sign up free to unlock them: https://app.shizune.co/sign-up/investor-profiles/find-team-emails/blue-ridge-foundation?utm_source=investor_profile

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Education | 6 | 27% |
| Software | 5 | 23% |
| Non Profit | 5 | 23% |
| Internet | 4 | 18% |
| SaaS | 3 | 14% |

48 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Grant | 13 | 59% |
| Pre-Seed | 7 | 32% |
| Seed | 2 | 9% |

## Team

| Name | Title | Investments | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| John Griffin | Co-founder & Trustee | 4 | — |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Ameelio | Ameelio is a non-profit committed to transforming prison communications. Ameelio builds tools to improve the lives of those impacted by incarceration. All of its services are provided free of charge and all of our tools are open-source. |  | Pre-Seed | Jan 01, 2021 |  |
| Viva Translate | Viva Translate helps people around the world communicate in English, Spanish and Portuguese in real time. |  | Pre-Seed | Jan 01, 2021 |  |
| Ameelio | Ameelio is a non-profit committed to transforming prison communications. Ameelio builds tools to improve the lives of those impacted by incarceration. All of its services are provided free of charge and all of our tools are open-source. |  | Grant | Jan 01, 2021 |  |
| Violet | Violet is a platform that helps the healthcare industry deliver more inclusive services. It enables identity-centered care for everyone. | $410K | Pre-Seed | Nov 01, 2020 |  |
| Opus | Opus is a hospitality training platform purpose-built for the frontline that provides digital tools to help service staff learn skills, complete training modules, and access performance resources. The platform offers structured learning pathways, micro-lessons, and interactive content tailored to operational roles such as servers, housekeepers,bartenders, and guest services teams. It supports onboarding, upskilling, and continuous education by enabling employees to engage with training materials on mobile devices and track progress through competency checklists. Opus also includes features for managers to assign courses, monitor completion rates, and align training activities with service standards and operational needs. The platform integrates assessment and feedback mechanisms that help learners reinforce knowledge and demonstrate proficiency in core hospitality tasks. Through its digital training infrastructure, Opus supports workforce development and skill alignment within hospitality environments. | $50K | Grant | Nov 19, 2018 |  |
| Wiggle Room | Wiggle Room builds tools to stabilize and grow Family Child Care businesses so that providers, families, and children can thrive. |  | Grant | Nov 19, 2018 |  |
| UPchieve | UPchieve is an educational technology foundation that connects moderate high school students with free, on-demand live tutors and therapists at any time. Their online platform is accessible around the clock and can easily connect students with their qualified academic coaches. They have aided kids in getting the tutoring and college guidance theyrequired to succeed academically. |  | Grant | Nov 19, 2018 |  |
| Leap Fund | Leap Fund specializes in providing a solution that lifts people over the benefits cliff, creating self-sufficiency, and financial independence. It has developed a calculator that predicts individualized benefits cliffs and is a financial solutions that allows users to defer their income until they earn enough to replace what they’ll lose inbenefits.They were was founded in 2018 and are headquartered in Brooklyn, New York. |  | Grant | Nov 19, 2018 |  |
| Smart Coos | Live-language teacher on an interactive platform for young kids |  | Grant | May 04, 2018 |  |
| Yenko | Yenko was born out of Margo Wright's frustration that while college enrollment rates have increased, college completion for all remains a challenging problem. Only 41% of U.S. adults over the age of 25 have a post-secondary credential (have earned an associate's or bachelor's degree).Today's college students are typicallyjuggling school, work and family while commuting to college and depend on financial aid to afford college. Their most scarce resources are time and money and yet, in trying to balance school and work, financial aid eligibility can be put at risk.Yenko supports students' persistence by helping them keep their fingers on the pulse of what's important and as a result, achieve academic success that leads to graduation. |  | Grant | May 04, 2018 |  |

10 of 22 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [CNF Investments, LLC](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/cnf-investments) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Comcast Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/comcast-interactive-capital) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- Dauk/Wagner Investments — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Expansion Venture Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/expansion-venture-capital) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- Sargent Capital — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [The Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/the-draper-richards-kaplan-foundation) — VC Fund, 1 deal together

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- [Business Finland](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/tekes) — VC Fund

## FAQ

### What does Blue Ridge Foundation invest in?

Blue Ridge Foundation invests primarily in Education, Software and Non Profit startups, most often at Grant and Pre-Seed stage. Most of the 22 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United States. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### How do I contact Blue Ridge Foundation?

Public channels for Blue Ridge Foundation include X (Twitter), the website linked on this profile and Facebook. For a verified work email and phone number, create a free Shizune account — contact data is searched across 20+ sources and validated before delivery, so your outreach lands in the right inbox.

### Who are the partners at Blue Ridge Foundation?

The team at Blue Ridge Foundation includes John Griffin (Co-founder & Trustee). The Team section lists each member with their title, investment count and links.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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