22 investors and funders committed $14.5 million in impact investment and grants (in lieu of fees) to Upstart’s Inclusive Creative Economy Strategy as of December 31, 2023. This is the first vehicle investing in the U.S. creative industries, targeting market rate returns, prioritizing BIPOC and women entrepreneurs — with a focus on quality jobs, vibrant communities, and sustainable creative lives.

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma was joined by Clara Miller, Zia Khan, Dennis Whittle, Jed Emerson and 70 entrepreneurs, fund managers, and impact investors at The Rockefeller Foundation’s new NYC Convening Center to celebrate the extraordinary talent, energy and potential of entrepreneurs and fund managers working in the creative economy and the impact investors backing them – all part of Upstart Co-Lab’s growing community.

Over 1,250 people learned about impact investing and the creative economy through events, webinars, and conferences hosted by and featuring Upstart Co-Lab in 2023. Most notably, founding partner Laura Callanan traveled to Egypt to keynote the Creative Initiatives and Cultural Policies Forum hosted by the British Council.

Upstart received 25 mentions in earned media and reports by academics and practitioners last year, including Deloitte’s Art & Finance Report, the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre’s Impact Investing in the Cultural and Creative Sectors: Insights from an emerging field; and Forbes. Upstart’s The Creator Economy: A guide for impact investors has been downloaded 350 times since it launched in April 2023.

Colleagues from the Bay Area, Brooklyn, Hawaii, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New Orleans, Seattle, Vermont – plus the Netherlands, the Nordic region and Turkey – called on Upstart’s expertise as they developed new creative economy initiatives.

Students from Columbia University School of the Arts; Georgetown University – McDonough School of Business; IE Business School – Madrid; Stanford Graduate School of Business; Columbia University Teachers College; New York University – Wagner School of Public Service; Central Saint Martins – London; ESSEC Business School – Paris; University of Chicago – Booth School of Business; University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, Yale School of Management interviewed the Upstart team and cited our work for their research.