Reach Capital, the San Francisco venture firm that spun out of NewSchools Venture Fund in 2015, is expanding its investment thesis beyond education technology. In August, the firm announced its fifth fund at $265 million, bringing its assets under management to nearly $1 billion. With that capital, Reach plans to invest in roughly 50 additional companies at pre-seed, seed, and Series A stages, targeting sectors it now groups as learning, health, and work.
Partner James Kim, a former high school math teacher and early user of ClassDojo, says the firm's education roots give it an edge in other complex, regulated markets. Selling to a school district, he argues, is comparable to selling to a health system or hospital. That experience helped Reach back Cartwheel, a mental health teletherapy company whose customers are school districts, and it informs the firm's broader focus on products that increase access to quality education, care, or earnings.
Reach's portfolio spans consumer learning tools like Brilliant, healthcare training from Stepful, and developer platform Replit. The firm also backs supply-side companies such as WorkWhile, which helps logistics and hospitality employers hire hourly workers. Kim notes that some of Reach's best investments initially divided its own team, suggesting the firm is willing to back ideas that seem unconventional or hard to assess at first glance.