Omidyar Network

Omidyar Network is a self-styled "philanthropic investment firm," composed of a foundation and an impact investment firm.[1] Established in 2004 by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam, Omidyar Network reports it has committed more than $992 million to nonprofit organizations and for-profit companies across multiple investment areas.[2]

Omidyar Network
TypeImpact investor, non-profit organization
Founded2004 (2004)
FounderPierre Omidyar
Websitewww.omidyar.com

Structure

Composed of a 501(c)(3) and a Limited Liability Company (LLC), Omidyar Network is structured to work across the social, business, and government sectors. Like a traditional foundation, it makes grants through its 501(c)(3) entity; through its LLC, it invests in for-profit entities.[3] It is "a Part of the Omidyar Group".[4]

In 2018, Omidyar Network spun off its Governance & Citizen Engagement initiative.[5] The group now operates as Luminate, a global philanthropic organization that invests in Civic Empowerment, Data & Digital Rights, Financial Transparency, and Independent Media. It is led by Stephen King.[6]

In 2019, Omidyar Network spun off its Financial Inclusion initiative.[7] The group now operates as Flourish and is led by Tilman Ehrbeck, Arjuna Costa, and Emmalyn Shaw.

People

The managing partner of Omidyar Network is Mike Kubzansky, a former partner at Monitor Group (now Monitor Deloitte).[8] Jeff Alvord is the managing director of The Omidyar Group (TOG).[9]

The organization has offices in Redwood City, Bengaluru, Johannesburg, London, Mumbai, Nairobi, Singapore, and Washington D.C.,[10]

Investees

Omidyar Network invested in the microfinance sector, including Unitus Inc.[11]

As of April 2009, Omidyar Network counts the following organizations as partners: Ashoka, Comat Technologies, Creative Commons, Digg, DonorsChoose, Endeavor, Federated Media Publishing, GlobalGiving, Goodmail, GuideStar, Linden Lab (developer of Second Life global virtual community), Media Development Investment Fund, Meetup, Metaweb, ModestNeeds, Open Data Institute, Opportunity International, PRBC, Prosper, Rappler, SeaChange Capital Partners, Seesmic, Socialtext, Sunlight Foundation, Virgin Money, Wikia, World of Good.

From 2012, Omidyar Network has been a partner of Better Than Cash Alliance.

In 2017, Omidyar Network together with AVINA Americas and Avina Foundation founded the Latin American Alliance for Civic Technology (ALTEC) to invest in and support the development in Latin America of civic technology platforms and related scalable technologies.[12]

In 2009, the Omidyar Network donated $2 million over two years to the Wikimedia Foundation, and at the same time, Matt Halpin of Omidyar Network was appointed to Wikimedia's board of directors.[13]

See also

References
  1. "The Omidyar way of giving" (October 26, 2013). October 26, 2013. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  2. "Omidyar Network". Retrieved 7 September 2016.
  3. Guth, Robert A. (October 22, 2008). "EBay Founder's Philanthropic Firm to Donate More". The Wall Street Journal. pp. A4.
  4. quoted from lower right of omidyar.com, 2018-07-21.
  5. "New Global Civic Tech Group Emerges from Omidyar Network". www.govtech.com. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  6. "Stephen King". UNESCO. 2019-04-04. Retrieved 2020-11-27.
  7. Field, Anne. "Omidyar Network Spins Off Flourish, A Financial Inclusion Investment Firm". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-11-19.
  8. "Omidyar Network". Retrieved 20 Jul 2018.
  9. "Jeff Alvord". Omidyar Network. Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  10. "Omidyar Network". Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  11. Strom, Stephanie; Bajaj, Vikas (29 July 2010). "Rich I.P.O. Brings Controversy to SKS Microfinance". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  12. "Omidyar Network Invests $2.9 Million in Civic Tech Alliance". Philanthropy News Digest (PND). 19 February 2017. Archived from the original on 22 February 2017.
  13. "Press releases/Omidyar Network Grant August 2009 - Wikimedia Foundation". wikimediafoundation.org. Retrieved 2016-12-04.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.