2014: Our Year in Review [infographic]

True’s focus in 2014 was on impact. We invested in new companies having a profound impact on the way we work, move and live, from groundbreaking education companies to “smart” athletic wear, to open source automation software, to high-performing microbes. From an investment strategy standpoint, we continued supporting our portfolio companies throughout their entire lifecycle, knowing that continued belief and long-term support have a huge impact on creative Founders and their teams. We also celebrated 13 acquisitions, welcoming new opportunities for our portfolio companies to expand their impact and reach. And we welcomed 44 new Founders and 1,015 new team members to the True portfolio, bringing the total number of true Founders and employees to 220 and 4,380, respectively. These are the people who humble and inspire us every day.

We expanded the impact of our Founder Platform to further support the unique needs of the creative entrepreneur. New initiatives included True Forums, a small-group setting for Founders to truly connect; True Atoms, a new event focused entirely on companies building physical products; and True Tube, which opened the incredible archive of True University speaker videos to the public. We also continued to innovate upon our hallmark events and programs.

For the sixth year, we welcomed an incredible class of True Entrepreneur Corps Fellows to San Francisco for the summer. We believe TEC has a double impact: students get to experience life working at a startup, and our portfolio companies get an early introduction to a new generation of curious, creative minds.

Finally, after many years of thinking about how to mobilize our firm’s resources to positively impact the communities around us, we created True Impact, a program to provide a bridge between the True community and the broader world in a manner wholly consistent with our mission. We awarded the 1^st annual True Impact Prize to Cecil Williams and Jan Mirikitani at GLIDE, which has provided over 80 programs to the residents of San Francisco for 50 years, including feeding the hungry, violence prevention education, healthcare, “greening” the Tenderloin, spiritual services, leadership development and more.

Our mission is to make the world a better place for Founders, and to have a deep and lasting impact on the lives of the people we touch. That thread is woven through all our activities, from the companies in which we invest, to the way we invest, to our commitment to supporting Founders and the community around us. Join us as we celebrate an exciting and hugely prosperous year for True Ventures, our Founders and their teams.