Activate Global Inc
Berkeley, CA · EIN 47-5502184. Reported 92 grants totalling $9,199,706 to 82 organizations across tax years 2020-2023, on Form 990 Schedule I.
Does this grantmaker accept applications?
Its tax return does not say, and we will not guess. Private foundations file Form 990-PF, which asks outright whether they fund only organizations they select themselves -- 78% say yes, and that one answer is what lets the rest of this site tell you which foundations are worth approaching. Grantmaking charities like this one file a regular Form 990 instead, and the IRS never puts the question to them. Anyone claiming to know the answer from the filing is inventing it.
Three things in the filing do bear on it:
- What kind of organization it is. For Activate Global Inc, the IRS classifies it under environment rather than as a grantmaker (NTEE C02) -- it is an operating charity that also makes grants.
- How spread out its giving is. 82 distinct organizations, with 7% of the dollars going to the largest single recipient. That is genuinely spread out -- the mark of a funder making many independent decisions rather than underwriting one institution.
- How much its list changes. 28% of one year's grantees are funded again the next, across 3 year-to-year transitions. That is below the 57% median for grantmaking charities, and well below the 67% private foundations manage. A list that turns over this much is one a newcomer can realistically join.
How big are its grants?
The median reported grant is $100,000. Half of what it reported fell between $90,067 and $100,500; the smallest was $5,500 and the largest $600,964. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong organization.
Every organization it funded
This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by the EIN the filer reported, not by name, so an organization that was typed differently in two years appears once rather than twice.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perlumi | Berkeley, CA | $600,964 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Perlumi | Berkeley, CA | $339,503 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Lbnl | Berkeley, CA | $321,973 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Pulsenics Inc | Newark, NJ | $314,347 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Kano Therapeutics | Cambridge, MA | $310,920 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Osmoses Inc | Cambridge, MA | $296,180 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Takachar | Boston, MA | $250,742 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Banyu Carbon Inc | Seattle, WA | $221,537 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Asimica Inc | Laramie, WY | $213,707 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Photonect | Rochester, NY | $201,503 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Feon Energy | Woburn, MA | $197,051 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Anthology Biotechnologies Inc | Cambridge, MA | $185,547 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Pascal Technologies Inc | Cambridge, MA | $179,133 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Blaze Energy Technologies Corporation | Denver, CO | $178,962 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Brekland Incorporated | Brooklyn, NY | $174,445 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Rockfix | San Carlos, CA | $114,960 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Limelight Steel Inc | San Diego, CA | $106,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Soctera Inc | Ithaca, NY | $106,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Opera Bioscience | Evanston, IL | $104,500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Allium Engineering | Peabody, MA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Arbon Inc | New York, NY | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Arrakis Materials | Woburn, MA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Aeroshield Materials Inc | Hyde Park, MA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Anvil Diagnostics Inc | Southborough, MA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Boston Atomics LLC | Boston, MA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Capillary Nanotechnologies Inc | Urbana, IL | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Cella Mineral Storage Inc | New York, NY | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Chlobis Water Inc | Madison, WI | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Circe Bioscience Inc | Allston, MA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Closed Composites Inc | San Pedro, CA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Concerto Biosciences Inc | Allston, MA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Dottir Labs Inc | Brookline, MA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Eva Technology Corp | Boston, MA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Electrified Thermal Solutions | Somerville, MA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Florrent Inc | Amhurst, MA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Foray Bioscience | Cambridge, MA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Flux Xii Inc | Madison, WI | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Found Energy Co | Cambridge, MA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Geolabe LLC | Los Alamos, NM | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Impact Cooling Inc | Birmingham, AL | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Innate Energy Inc | New York, NY | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Ivu Biologics Inc | Wellesley, MA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Juno Propulsion | Federal Way, WA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Lithios Inc | Cambridge, MA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Lucidean Inc | Goleta, CA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Osrostrum Inc | Graham, NC | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Pseudolithic Inc | Santa Barbara, CA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Quorum Bio Inc | San Ramon, CA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Reegen Inc | Ithaca, NY | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Radical Plastics Inc | Marblehead, MA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Sinkco Labs | Lewes, DE | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Sixline Semiconductor | Middleton, WI | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Still Bright | Newark, NJ | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Sitration Inc | Cambridge, MA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Solopulse Corp | Decatur, GA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Sublime Systems Inc | Weston, MA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Terra Watts | Cookeville, TN | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Tensora Inc | Brooklyn, NY | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Turnover Technologies Inc | New York, NY | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Vyir Inc | New York, NY | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Vycarb Inc | Brooktondale, NY | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Wild Microbes Company | Boston, MA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Gel Matter | New York, NY | $99,873 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Vellex Computing | San Luis Obispo, CA | $90,067 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Trophic | Albany, CA | $75,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Varada Agriculture Inc | Berkeley, CA | $61,810 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Osmoses Inc | Somerville, MA | $25,240 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Supercarb Inc | San Francisco, CA | $9,673 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Calectra Inc | Oakland, CA | $9,583 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Hit Nano Inc | Bordentown, NY | $8,833 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Raven Space Systems Inc | Kansas City, MO | $8,785 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Icarus Quantum Inc | Boulder, CO | $8,669 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Robotics 88 Inc | Barrington, RI | $8,662 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Nanoscale Fishing LLC | Austin, TX | $8,646 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Keratin Nails | Albertson, NY | $8,560 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Andros Innovation | Cambridge, MA | $8,333 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Elateq Inc | Amherst, MA | $8,333 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Elysium Robotics LLC | Raleigh, NC | $8,333 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Heliotrope Photonics Inc | Brooklyn, NY | $8,333 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Lumistrain | Houston, TX | $8,333 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Rstream Recycling Inc | Somerville, MA | $8,333 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| VITRO3D Inc | Boulder, CO | $8,333 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
9 of 82 (11%) received money in more than one year over the 4 years we hold. Remember the $5,000 floor: an organization funded every year at $3,000 shows up here as never funded at all.
What the money was for
Taken verbatim from the purpose column of its filings, largest first. This is the closest thing to a statement of what it funds, in its own words.
- Perlumi
Technology development funds - Photonect
TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT FUNDS AND STIPENDS - Pulsenics Inc
FELLOWSHIP LIVING STIPENDS
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants reported | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 7 | $675,000 | $100,000 |
| 2021 | 5 | $649,610 | $100,000 |
| 2022 | 29 | $3,739,054 | $100,000 |
| 2023 | 51 | $4,136,042 | $100,000 |
Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- Form 990 arrives about a year after the year it covers, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a grantmaker winding down.
Where its money goes
37% of its giving went to organizations in Massachusetts. Community foundations and federated funds are usually the most geographically bounded funders there are -- being outside the footprint is normally disqualifying in a way that a weak programme fit is not.
Down to the city
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Funders that support the same organizations
These grantmakers and private foundations gave to organizations this one also funded. Shared grantees are the strongest signal available that two funders have overlapping priorities -- and a funder already backing your peers is a far warmer prospect than one that merely lists your cause.
How to approach this grantmaker
- Look for a published programme first. Unlike most private foundations, organizations of this kind often do run open, deadlined grant cycles with written guidelines. Its own website is the authority on that; this page is the authority on who it has actually paid.
- Check you are its size. The median reported grant is $100,000 -- and because grants under $5,000 need not be reported, it very likely writes smaller cheques than this page can see.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving concentrates in Massachusetts.
- Read the recipient list for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer and a cheap one to get.
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from Activate Global Inc's own Form 990 Schedule I filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2020-2023). Nothing here is scraped, inferred or estimated.
On its most recent return it told the IRS it made grants to 0 section 501(c)(3) organizations and 51 other organizations. That is the filer's own count for one year; the totals above cover every year we hold.
Address of record on the latest return: 2600 Tenth Street Suite 300, Berkeley, CA, 94710.
EIN 47-5502184 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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