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Catalytic Impact Foundation: $50M Regenerative Fund Commitment to Accelerate Tomorrow’s Solutions

NEW YORK, 2025 — What if every dollar invested in a medical breakthrough could kindle the next? CIF’s regenerative philanthropy model reinvests every return — connecting today’s breakthroughs to tomorrow’s solutions. Building on this model, the Catalytic Impact Foundation (CIF) announced expansion of its Fund to $50 million by 2030, with the goal of improving over 150 million lives.

“CIF was founded on the principle of regenerative philanthropy — funding forward, using today’s returns to power tomorrow’s innovations,” said Rick Lipkin, Founder. “By working alongside global partners, we can build ecosystems for innovation that bring lifesaving solutions to patients in critical need.”

Closing the Gaps Others Leave Behind

Healthcare is full of areas where bold science stalls for lack of sustained support. CIF targets six especially underfunded spaces: Children’s Health, Women’s Health, Brain & Mental Health, Rare Diseases, Aging, and Health Equity.Focusing on these gaps ensures innovation flows where patients most often are left behind.

Portfolio in Action

CIF pioneers solutions that bridge critical gaps in healthcare through a select set of portfolio innovations. In Brain & Mental Health, Ceretype Neuroscience maps brain activity in real time, unlocking new avenues in psychiatry and neurology. In Children’s Health, Starlight Cardio builds minimally invasive supports that give newborns with congenital heart disease a fighting chance.

Turning to Women’s Health / Maternal Care, CIF backs technologies such as postpartum care platforms and fetal monitoring tools—vital in a country where over 80% of U.S. pregnancy-related deaths are deemed preventable and maternal mortality has climbed significantly over the past decade. In Aging and Cardiovascular Health, Cleerly Health uses AI imaging to detect heart disease before it strikes, earning recognition on TIME’s World’s Top HealthTech Companies 2025 list. Meanwhile, in Health Equity & Women’s Health, Egal Pads powers menstrual equity by distributing products in schools, airports, and stadiums nationwide.

Each of these companies exemplifies how CIF de-risks nascent science, attracts follow-on capital, and accelerates patient-ready solutions. Every return feeds into the next innovation, fueling progress across all six focus areas.

Proof of Impact

  • 50 companies in portfolio

  • 52% women-led (vs. < 3% industry average)

  • 24 technologies commercialized

  • 9 successful exits fueling reinvestment

  • $900M+ in follow-on capital unlocked

  • 2.7M lives potentially saved

  • 148M lives potentially improved

“We combine the discipline of venture with the purpose of philanthropy. Early investment de-risks the science, attracts follow-on funding, and accelerates the path from lab bench to bedside. That flywheel — regenerative philanthropy — turns each success into fuel for the next,” said Rachel Butler, President.

“CIF’s innovative model provides the critical capital, expertise and support that de-risks early-stage companies and ensures key therapeutics and solutions make it into the hands of patients,” added Rob Wolk, Chair.

Recognition & Momentum

CIF’s model now commands attention in both impact and investment circles. PitchBook profiles nearly 60 early-stage life science investments that collectively unlocked more than $900M in follow-on capital. Beyond the Billion highlights CIF’s “evergreen fund” approach, turning philanthropic capital into a renewable engine for healthcare innovation. In 2023, CIF earned the Real Leaders Impact Award, judged on growth, impact, and sustainability.

In 2025, CIF was spotlighted at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Annual Meeting, where it unveiled its $50M regenerative fund expansion and shared how its model powers a continuous cycle of innovation from lab to patient.

That same year, CIF also became a founding member of the Milken Institute’s Women’s Health Network. Chaired by former First Lady Jill Biden, the Network unites 75 organizations to advance women’s health innovation — reinforcing CIF’s leadership in creating ecosystems where underserved health challenges receive capital, expertise, and visibility.

About the Catalytic Impact Foundation

The Catalytic Impact Foundation (CIF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit funding early-stage healthcare solutions for the world’s most urgent and overlooked challenges. CIF’s regenerative philanthropy model reinvests every success to seed future breakthroughs.

Since 2015, CIF has blended venture discipline with philanthropic purpose to support innovation across women’s health, brain & mental health, rare diseases, pediatrics, aging, and health equity. By aligning capital, expertise, and partnerships across sectors, CIF accelerates progress from lab bench to bedside — ensuring bold ideas don’t stall but reach patients who need them most.

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Because patients can’t wait — and neither can we.

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