About
Henry Kravis founded the Partnership Fund in 1996, which was capitalized by New York’s leaders of business and finance and given a unique mandate.
Kravis envisioned a "corporate civic investment fund" that would generate outcomes to lift a city and its people. The idea was to accelerate opportunity in neighborhoods that had been left behind and support the creation of new growth industries.
There were no models for what Kravis had in mind, and he consulted David Rockefeller who had rallied the private sector to help resolve the city's financial crisis in the mid-1970s. Rockefeller advised him that more than capital was required.
Kravis told his investors,“We want the money, but we also want your time, and we want your effort, and we want the effort of your people.”
That dual mandate—smart, patient capital and deep expertise—still informs everything we do.
As the $130 million investment arm of the Partnership for New York City, the Fund has access to the expertise of the Partnership’s member companies who are among New York City’s largest and most important employers.
In addition to the leadership of our member companies, we collaborate with industry leaders, leaders from the entrepreneurial sector, experts from the investment and venture capital communities, and subject matter experts, all of whom help to inform the work we do.
Credit: Alexandria Center for Life Science
Since its founding, the Fund has facilitated the growth of emerging industries until market forces are sufficient to scale them.
This approach has helped our city’s innovation economy expand from new media and e-commerce to fintech, enterprise software, and life sciences. The Fund’s significant, early investments in life sciences and fintech have been particularly impactful. Today, New York City’s innovation economy is second in the U.S. only to Silicon Valley.
In a complex urban environment with multiple, ongoing needs the future doesn’t always have a constituency.
The Fund focuses the extraordinary talent and expertise of New York’s business and investment community on what comes next, allocating capital and directing innovation where it’s needed most to ensure future growth and opportunity.
Who we are
Our investors are committed to creating impact and share the Fund’s goal of building a more diverse, inclusive, and innovative economy in New York City.
Our Board comprises a robust network of New York City business and entrepreneurial leaders with expertise across industries.
Advisors to the Fund, many of whom are senior leaders from the Partnership’s member companies, volunteer their time and institutional resources to help identify and support promising entrepreneurs, evaluate potential investments, and advise on pivotal trends.
The Partnership Fund team is a group of dedicated professionals committed to working with one another and with the Fund’s partners in fulfilling the Fund’s mission.