Together, we will make a difference.

From ‘Introducing Difference Partners’, LinkedIn 12/13/21

Today I am excited to announce the launch of Difference Partners, a fully committed $30M venture fund focused on improving the lives of those who think and learn differently.

Despite sounding like the beginning of a new chapter, this story actually started 35 years ago. For those of you who don’t know, I am a quadruplet and my brother Paulie has autism.

Growing up by his side, I saw his struggles but also watched closely as he began to progress. Non-verbal until he was five and with a long list of social barriers to overcome, we never imagined that he could one day be living independently. Despite facing continued challenges, Paulie currently has a job and lives in his own apartment and advocates for himself on a daily basis. Many would say he is thriving.

As I grew up, I became intensely aware and sensitive to the fact that there were many families who had someone with differences living in their home. Despite the handful of great nonprofits promoting advocacy for these causes, it became clear that awareness was not enough.

I had always been curious about why it took so long for the startup ecosystem to start solving problems that existed within the neurodiversity community. With undying love and constant dedication from our family, Paulie had access to speech pathology, licensed care and therapy, medical attention and more. The barriers and costs associated with getting this care were not easily accessible and surely not affordable.

With the advent of technology, I only hoped it would be.

In early 2018, I wrote an investment thesis for an autism-focused venture fund targeting enormous problems across therapy, employment, education, financial services and housing. I socialized this memo with a handful of close friends and investors including Fred Poses.

Ten years ago, the Poses Family founded Understood.org, a non-profit focused on empowering people who learn and think differently. These differences are variations in how the brain processes information and can affect reading, writing, math, focus, and following directions. These are life-long conditions, with the most commonly known ones being ADHD and dyslexia. Misinformation, stigma, lack of awareness, and other barriers such as cost can stand in the way of people getting the support they need.

We know this is a group that is vastly underserved, has huge potential, and represents more than 70 million people - more than 20 percent of our population today.

Fred and I agreed that innovation was desperately needed in this category to increase outcomes that lead to more people thriving. Despite agreeing that more startups needed to be solving these problems, we realized there were some real barriers to entry and decided to monitor the space closely.

Two years passed and the pandemic made it clear that it was time to act. This led to the formation of Difference Partners. A new fund solely focused on investing in startups that improve the lives of those who learn and think differently.

We have already made a few investments that speak to our thesis in more color:

Positive Development: comprehensive developmental therapy

Juniper: billing solutions for behavioral health clinics

Marker Learning: diagnostics for learning disabilities

Joshin: specialized licensed care at home

Daivergent: job training and placement for neurodiverse adults

Goally: assistive technology for pediatric behavioral health

None of this would have been possible without the support and encouragement from Heather Hartnett, my partner at Human Ventures who continues to lead one of the most forward thinking platforms in our industry. Many thanks to Heather, Joe, Michael and the rest of the Human family for believing in me. I also want to thank Ben Wald and Ian Friedman who initially pushed my thinking into this space.

There are also a handful of other investors who have dedicated their time to this category. Amol, Chris, Rob, Jason, Olivia, keep up the good work.

Most of all, I’d like to thank the founders we've met and continue to work with. Mike, Christophe, Stefan, Emily, Melissa, Melanie, Byran, Rahul, Sasha - you are the ones putting the needs of this population first and taking the most risk to do so. I can’t wait to roll up my sleeves and help as much as possible.

Together, we will make a difference.

Jesse Morris, Founder & General Partner, Difference Partners