Consumer spending is an important indicator of economic health; in the U.S., it accounts for two-thirds of GDP.
New York and Boston-based venture capital firm NextView’s fund will focus on seed-stage investments that “have first or second degree impacts on problems virtually everyone faces,” according to co-founder Lee Hower.
It isn’t an impact fund in the sense that it targets basic products and services for underserved communities. Instead, its focus is on companies that reshape the daily lives of consumers or businesses.
Existing investments include MealPal, a lunch subscription service for urban workers that provides low-cost meals from local restaurants; Voodoo Manufacturing, an affordable 3D-printing manufacturer; and Quilt, a service that allows people to build their own personal insurance products.
The fund will make equity investments between $100,000 and $1.5 million.
