How many total Foundations companies are there?

As of Apr 2026, there are 169,460 active companies in Foundations sector.

Which countries have the most Foundations companies?

United States (37,861) has the highest number of Foundations companies, followed by United Kingdom (26,320) and Germany (8,675).

How many Foundations companies are funded?

As of Apr 2026, 24,982 companies in this sector have received funding.

Which company has raised the most funding in Foundations sector?

As of Apr 2026, Econicpartners has secured $656M in funding, making it the highest-funded company in the Foundations sector.

Which country has attracted the most investment in Foundations companies?

With $34.6B in total funding, United States has attracted the most investment among Foundations companies.

Who are the top investors in Foundations companies?

The top investors in Foundations companies by number of investments are Europa, HHS and Hud Exchange

How much venture capital has Foundations sector attracted?

In the last 10 years, venture capital firms have invested $734M in this sector.

Foundations - 2026 Market & Investments Trends

There are 170K companies in the Foundations sector across the world, with 25K funded companies having collectively raised $212B in venture capital money and private equity. Overall 866 of these are Series A+ funded.

Foundations sector has seen 261 acquisitions and 484 IPOs.

Key Metrics

Total Companies

170K

Top Companies

Kiva, AARP & more

Total Funding

Funded Companies

Series A+ Companies

Series C+ Companies

IPOs

Acquisitions

View complete details of this sector

There are more than 170K companies in Foundations. Kiva is the top Foundations company globally, ranked using Tracxn Score (what's this?).

Here are 5 of the top Foundations companies globally:

Company	Description	Location	Founded	Current Stage	Private Funding Raised
Kiva	Facilitator of microloans to entrepreneurs globally	San Francisco (United States)	2005	Series A	$9.56M
AARP	Non-profit organisation helping America's poor and isolated seniors	Washington, DC (United States)	1881	Funding Raised	-
UNICEF	Non-profit organization which provides humanitarian services in developing countries	United States	1946	Funding Raised	-
IEEE	Educational association focused on advancing technology and engineering disciplines	Piscataway (United States)	1884	Funding Raised	-
Royal Society of Chemistry	A community focused on science & technology	London (United Kingdom)	1841	Funding Raised	-

Get a longer list of companies

Companies founded year-on-year in the Foundations sector

4 new startups have been founded so far in 2026 in the Foundations sector. 3,453 Foundations startups were founded in 2020 - this is the most number of startups founded in any year in the last 10 years.

Total Number of Companies

Year	No. of companies
2026	4
2025	86
2024	354
2023	829
2022	1,130
2021	2,134
2020	3,453
2019	2,749
2018	2,749
2017	2,406

Companies founded across countries in the Foundations sector

United States has 37,861 Foundations startups, the most by any country, followed by United Kingdom which has 26,320 startups and Germany which has 8,675.

Total Number of Companies

Country	No. of companies
United States	37,861
United Kingdom	26,320
Germany	8,675
India	5,907
Canada	3,302
Australia	1,648
Italy	1,210
Switzerland	1,157
Netherlands	1,152
France	1,126

Stage-wise distribution of the Foundations sector

Out of the total 169,920 Foundations companies, 24,982 have secured funding. Among them, 866 have reached Series A or higher, and 786 to Series B or beyond.

Founded - 169,920

Funded - 24,982

Series A+ - 866

Series B+ - 786

Series C+ - 767

Company Stage	No. of companies
Founded	169,920
Funded	24,982
Series A+	866
Series B+	786
Series C+	767

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170K+ Total Companies
$212B+ Total Funding
25K+ Funded Companies
480+ IPOs
260+ Acquisitions

Total funding year-on-year in the Foundations sector

The Foundations sector saw a total funding of more than $59.7B in the last 10 years. The most amount of funding was in 2025 at more than $21.3B. There has been a total funding of $477M in 2026 till date.

Total Funding

Year	Total Funding
2026	$477M
2025	$21.3B
2024	$2.15B
2023	$5.05B
2022	$4.81B
2021	$4.93B
2020	$4.2B
2019	$4.83B
2018	$7.11B
2017	$4.85B

Total funding across countries in the Foundations sector

In the last 10 years, Foundations startups in United States have recieved the highest funding among all countries - $34.6B. United Kingdom follows with $1.6B and France with $1.58B.

Total Funding

Country	Total Funding
United States	$34.6B
United Kingdom	$1.6B
France	$1.58B
Germany	$1.44B
Italy	$894M
Belgium	$839M
Netherlands	$831M
Spain	$618M
Portugal	$126M
Poland	$66.1M

Total funding amount raised by stage in the Foundations sector

Over the last 10 years, the Foundations sector have seen $294M into Seed Stage funding rounds, $626M into Early Stage funding rounds and $1.55B go into Late Stage funding rounds.

Funding Stage	Total Funding
Grant	$52.7B
Debt	$3.46B
Late Stage	$1.55B
Early Stage	$626M
Seed Stage	$294M
PE	$62.7M
ICO	$14.3M
Post IPO	$8.02M
Other-Equity	$350K

Recent Funding Rounds in Foundations

In the year 2026, till March 2026, Foundations companies have raised $467M in equity funding across 7 rounds. In the same period last year (i.e. till March 2025), Foundations companies had raised $777M across 10 rounds. So, 2026 has seen a 39.83% drop in funding in Foundations companies as compared to 2025.

Here are some recent, important funding rounds in Foundations:

Company	Round Raised	Amount Raised	Funding Date	Investors
Clasp	Series B	8970	Mar 27, 2026	Crosslink Capital and 5 more
Findhelp	Series D	7193	Mar 03, 2026	The Rise Fund
Storyraise	Seed	6865	Jan 30, 2026	-
Fairshake	Series D	7750	Jan 29, 2026	Ripple and 2 more
Intech	Series A	4425	Jan 02, 2026	Red Stone

See a more detailed list of funding rounds

Europa is the top investor in Foundations companies based on number of companies invested.

Here are some top investors in Foundations:

Investor	Location	Top Portfolio Companies
Europa	Belgium	UNICEF, IEEE, Royal Society of Chemistry and Gates Foundation
HHS	Washington, DC (United States)	AARP, UNICEF, IEEE and Red Cross
Hud Exchange	Washington (United States)	Red Cross, United Way, Legion and Findhelp
USAID	Washington, DC (United States)	Kiva, UNICEF, Red Cross and WFP
USGS	Reston (United States)	Worldwildlife, Conservation, Sandiegozoowildlifealliance and ZSL

See a more detailed list of investors

In the year 2026, till February 2026, 3 acquisitions happened in Foundations sector. Last year, in 2025, a total of 14 acquisitions happened in Foundations sector.

Here are some recent, important acquisitions in Foundations:

Company	Acquisition Type	Acquisition Date	Acquirers
Ai.com	Business Acquisition	Feb 06, 2026
IMPACT	Business Acquisition	Feb 02, 2026	Primeproviders
Smithschafer	Business Acquisition	Jan 01, 2026	CohnReznick
CF Social Work	Business Acquisition	Dec 08, 2025	Keys Group
Upsidefoundation	Business Acquisition	Nov 20, 2025	Sickkidsfoundation

See a more detailed list of acquisitions

Acquisition trends in Foundations

Here are the acquisition trends in Foundations:

Total Number of Acquisitions

Year	No. of companies
2026	3
2025	14
2024	23
2023	20
2022	30
2021	16
2020	14
2019	14
2018	14
2017	12

In the year 2022, till February 2022, 1 IPO happened in Foundations sector.

Here are some recent, important IPOs in Foundations:

Company	IPO Date	Exchange Symbol
Narae Nanotech	Feb 08, 2022	Korea Exchange (KRX)
Public Square	Nov 18, 2021	New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)
Solo Brands	Oct 28, 2021	New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)
Sakura Saku Plus	Oct 28, 2020	Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE)
Blue City Brothers	Jul 15, 2020	National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ)

See a more detailed list of IPOs

Companies founded by alumni from top colleges in the Foundations sector

Most number of Foundations startups have been founded by alumni from Harvard University, Stanford University and Harvard Business School.

College	No. of companies
Harvard University	248
Stanford University	199
Harvard Business School	145
University of Oxford	139
University of Cambridge	116
University of Pennsylvania	116
Massachusetts Institute of Technology	107
Cornell University	105
Yale University	103
New York University	84

Total funding in companies founded by alumni from top colleges in the the Foundations sector

In the last 10 years, Universitat de Barcelona graduates' Foundations companies have raised the most funding among top colleges. University of Toronto alumni are second, and Uppsala University alumni are third.

College	Total Funding
Universitat de Barcelona	$4.66B
University of Toronto	$3.31B
Uppsala University	$3.04B
Technische Universität Berlin	$3.04B
University College Cork	$3.03B
Stanford University	$1.2B
WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management	$956M
The University of British Columbia	$908M
The Wharton School	$677M
Indian Institute of Science	$658M