Argosy Foundation

What they do

The Argosy Foundation is a private family foundation established in 1997 by John Abele, the co-founder of medical device company Boston Scientific. The foundation's core mission is philanthropic, aiming to "support people and programs that make our society a better place to live" through strategic grants. In a significant strategic expansion that began around March 2024, the foundation launched Kickoff Capital, its official venture capital arm. This positions Argosy as a hybrid entity: a traditional grantmaker and a mission-oriented seed investor, using the returns from its venture investments to fund its charitable grantmaking in a self-sustaining cycle.

What they look for

Kickoff Capital's goal is "to grow the next generation of world-changing companies founded by FIRST alumni." It provides dilutive funding to turn ideas from this specific talent pool into impactful, scalable businesses. The strategy creates a "self-sustaining cycle of growth and opportunity" by reinvesting returns from these ventures into the foundation's grantmaking and future investments.

Stage

Pre-seed, Seed, Series B+

Sectors

Deeptech, Climate, SaaS, Fintech, Healthcare

Based

Milwaukee, US