Fast Forward Growth Accelerator

Bet Big on a New Model for World-Changing Impact

Tech shapes our world. A new class of technologists is redefining how. We scoured the globe for the brightest leaders harnessing technology to make impact, not profit. Eight made the final cut.

The Fast Forward Growth Accelerator is matching bold philanthropists with high-growth tech nonprofits to drive exponential impact.

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The next Khan Academy and Wikipedia are out there. Fast Forward found them. The team applied vetting rigor comparable to the best VC firms to assemble a cohort of the most exciting startups anywhere. And they happen to be nonprofits.

- James Slavet, Venture Partner, Greylock
Founding supporter

High-Growth Tech Nonprofits

The cohort was vetted by Google’s Office of the CTO, Altman Solon, and our selection committee. Over six months, we narrowed a pool of 1,000 tech nonprofits to a cohort of eight. Each has product-market fit, a path to self-sustaining revenue, and a plan to 10X impact.

Commonlit

Michelle Brown, Founder & CEO

CommonLit’s digital reading program will help 13M low-income students read at grade level.

Nexleaf Analytics

Nithya Ramanathan, Co-Founder & CEO

Nexleaf’s smart thermometers will protect vaccines for 20% of babies born each year.

Quill

Peter Gault, Founder & Executive Director

Quill’s AI-powered literacy feedback tool will coach 10M low-income students to become stronger writers and critical thinkers.

Recidiviz

Clementine Jacoby, Co-Founder & Executive Director

Recidiviz’s data analytics software will expedite 300,000 people out of the criminal justice system.

Rocket Learning

Azeez Gupta, Co-Founder

Rocket Learning delivers preschool content via WhatsApp to close the learning gap for 75M underserved Indian children.

Sirum

Kiah Williams, Co-Founder

SIRUM will get nearly $1B worth of medicine to 1M patients who need it most.

TalkingPoints

Heejae Lim, Founder & CEO

TalkingPoints’ 2-way multilingual messaging platform will connect tens of millions of families with their children’s teachers.

WattTime

Gavin McCormick, Co-Founder & Executive Director

WattTime's API slashes pollution by empowering smart devices to run on cleaner energy.

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SIRUM has a product that’s working, a revenue model that will cover operating costs, and a plan for massive scale. But there’s not enough support for tech nonprofits at this stage. The Fast Forward Growth Accelerator will increase our current velocity and help bring us the capital and learning we need to reach the next level of impact.

- Kiah Williams, Co-Founder, Sirum

Our Collaborators

Meet the collaborators charting a path forward for tech nonprofits.

Altman Solon

Arrow Impact

Ashton Kutcher

Aston Motes

BlackRock

bridgespan group

Brigitte Hoyer Gosselink

Charles Best

Christy Chin

Fidelity Charitable Trustees' Initiative

Google.org

Google's office of the cto

HPE Foundation

Ime Archibong

James Slavet

Lance Braunstein

Laura Weidman Powers

Oliver Hurst-Hiller

Premal Shah

Rekha Pai Kamath

Sal Khan

Tom and Theresa Preston-
WernER

Walton Family Foundation

WoodNext Foundation

Collaborate

The movement needs bold leaders to bet big.

About Fast Forward

Fast Forward defined the tech nonprofit sector. Over the last decade, we’ve discovered and launched the world’s most viable tech nonprofits. Our flagship Startup Accelerator has supported 79 organizations that have gone on to impact over 100M lives globally and raise $357M+ in follow-on funding. Now, Fast Forward is unlocking exponential scale for high-growth tech nonprofits.