Why We Started Sway for Future
The world's most pressing problems represent its greatest investment opportunities
Sway for Future was founded in 2020 by Alexandra Hayes and Marcus Weston, two former operators who had each spent over a decade building and scaling technology companies. After exits in the climate technology and enterprise software spaces respectively, they found themselves drawn to a fundamental question: where were the most important companies of the next decade going to come from?
The answer, they concluded, was clear. The founders who would define the 2030s were those who understood that the greatest market opportunities lay precisely at the intersection of technological innovation and measurable positive impact. Climate change, global health inequity, educational access, food security - these weren't just social problems. They were massive underserved markets with enormous commercial potential for the right founding teams.
What was missing was a seed fund that truly specialized in this intersection. Most impact investors operated at later stages, after the riskiest bets had already been made. Most seed funds paid lip service to impact without the operational expertise to meaningfully support impact-first founders. Sway for Future was built to fill that gap.
Since closing our first fund in early 2021, we have invested in 12 seed-stage companies across nine sectors, deploying over $47 million in capital. Our portfolio companies have collectively raised more than $180 million in follow-on funding, achieved regulatory approvals, and are now serving millions of people across four continents. We believe we are just getting started.
Seed Stage Specialists
We invest at the earliest stages - typically pre-seed through seed - with check sizes from $2M to $5M. We are usually the first institutional capital into a company, and we take this responsibility seriously. Our due diligence is rigorous and our support is hands-on from day one.
Returns and Responsibility
We do not believe in the trade-off between financial returns and positive impact. Our investment thesis is built on the conviction that the companies solving humanity's greatest challenges will generate the most significant financial returns over the next decade. Impact is our alpha.
Founder-First Culture
Everything we do is in service of our founders. From our term sheets to our portfolio support programs, we design every element of our fund to maximize the probability of founder success. We believe the best investors are great partners, not just check writers.
Geographic Diversity
We invest globally, with a particular focus on North America, Europe, and high-growth emerging markets. We have found some of our most exciting investment opportunities outside traditional technology hubs, and we actively seek out founders building from unexpected places.
