Robert Downey Jr. Launches FootPrint Coalition

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Hey, Robert Downey Jr. and the FootPrint Coalition: May I have your attention, please? Will the real Tony Stark please stand up? I repeat, will the real Tony Stark please stand up?

Robert Downey Jr., the actor who has portrayed Tony Stark in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since 2008’s Iron Man, has launched FootPrint Coalition Ventures, a venture fund that will invest in companies that are developing sustainable, environmentally friendly technology.

Photo: FootPrint Coalition

RDJ Unveils the FootPrint Coalition

RDJ has announced his next adventure, the world of venture capital, and the actor and his wife, Susan Downey, have hit the ground running with their team investors.

Photo: FootPrint Coalition Ventures

FootPrint Coalition Ventures (or FPCV) has already invested in several companies, including a tree-free paper company known as CloudPaper and a firm that focuses on environmental storytelling called Arcadia. It has also invested in a neobank called Aspiration, the biotech company known as RWDC Industries, and Ynsect, a company that produces natural fertilizers.

According to an article from The Hollywood Reporter, Downey announced FPCV on January 27th, 2021, at the World Economic Forum‘s virtual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. THR quoted Downey as saying that he has spent much of the eighteen months since he announced the venture fund working closely with scientists and experts to determine how best to organize the endeavor.

Photo: Forbes

At the event, according to an article from Forbes, the Iron Man actor said:

This global existential threat is not something that’s going to be solved by a smattering of elite mega-corporations. I think that paradigm must be smashed in favor of innovation by a broad set of new companies.

The funds will be used as part of building Downey’s vision for a coalition for change.

What’s the FPCV?

The FPCV will be a rolling fund, which means that it will always be open to accepting additional investors, and work is currently being conducted with AngelList to facilitate the participation of additional potential investors.

Eventually, the hope is to have two separate funds available: one which will service new companies, and one which can provide funding to more established organizations. According to Jonathan Schulhof, who is the FPCV managing partner, the venture fund has a goal of investing $100 million annually.

Photo: FootPrint Coalition

The FPCV is hoping to work with companies that are developing environmentally-friendly technologies, have strong core teams, and have the potential for being scaled into larger projects.

However, one of the benefits for companies that partner with the FPCV isn’t strictly monetary: participation opens up the opportunity to work with Downey’s extensive network of connections, not to mention his charisma and knack for storytelling, which can prove invaluable to a fledgling company.

Tony Stark builds technology to make AI versions of his dead parents in Captain America: Civil War. Photo: Marvel Studios

Do you have any brilliant ideas for sustainable technology? Let RDJ know – but maybe don’t ask for funds to reanimate (or build AI versions of) your dead loved ones – trust us, it doesn’t go well.

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