Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation

Check fit before you apply

• DRK funds early-stage organisations that are past the pilot and not yet at scale. If you are still at idea or pre-pilot stage, it says it does not fund you.
• It also says it does not fund organisations past Series A.
• Look at the legal forms it excludes (LLCs, partnerships such as LPs and LLPs, S-Corps, US 501(c)(4) organisations and investment funds) and check your own structure against them.
• Your solution should be able to reach at least 10,000 people directly within five years.
• It funds organisations operating in India, so you do not need a US presence to be considered, but the site does not set out an India-specific route.
• A separate call it ran with NextLadder Ventures is only for US-based organisations. Do not apply to it from India.

How applications work

• There is no deadline. DRK takes applications all year.
• Use the online form only. Applications sent by email to any DRK team member are not reviewed, with no exceptions.
• Set aside 30 to 60 minutes to complete the form.
• Questions about the process go to info@drkfoundation.org.

How selection works

• DRK reviews nearly 3,000 applications a year and funds up to 20 organisations.
• Early interviews are a few exploratory conversations with a small group of DRK team members. Roughly 20% of applicants get there.
• Formal diligence follows and typically takes two to four months.
• The last steps are meeting the team and investment committee, then closing. The grant or investment structure and the tranches are agreed during closing.

What to plan for

• The offer includes a three-year board role for a senior DRK team member. Be ready for regular, hands-on involvement, often weekly conversations on key issues.
• Funding comes as either unrestricted grant funding or investment capital. For a for-profit that may mean giving up equity, so ask early which structure DRK has in mind.
• Funding arrives in tranches over three years, not as one payment.

What reviewers look for

• Measurable evidence that the solution works.
• A credible path to scale well beyond the current reach.
• A leader and team who can use a board-level partner.

Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation, usually called DRK, is a venture philanthropy funder that backs early-stage, high-impact social enterprises. It describes itself as a global firm and holds US 501(c)(3) status. It funds organisations in several regions, India among them, and it takes applications all year with no deadline. Its website gives no office address or founding year, only that it has worked in this field for almost 25 years.

How the funding works

DRK gives either unrestricted grant funding or investment capital, paid over a three-year period, usually in several tranches. Which of the two a funded organisation receives, and how the tranches are split, is settled in conversation during the closing stage. Nonprofits and for-profits are both funded.

The money is only part of the offer. DRK says the core of its model is hands-on support. One of its senior team members takes a board service role for the three years and acts as a resource on the organisation's path to scale. DRK says this often means weekly conversations on the issues that matter most. Alongside that sits specialist support on leadership and board development, organisational and fundraising capacity, financial sustainability and scaling strategy.

This is a funder that takes a seat at the table, not a cohort programme. There is no batch, no curriculum and no intake window. Founders who expect a classroom-style accelerator will find something different here.

Who can apply

DRK funds organisations at the early stage, which it defines as post-pilot and pre-scale. On age, its pages give slightly different pictures. One page says funded organisations are typically between three and five years old. Another says ideally between two and five years old, that younger and older organisations will be considered, and that organisations over ten years old are typically not funded, though this is not a strict rule.

The solution should be able to grow so that it directly reaches at least 10,000 lives within the next five years, with ambitions beyond that. DRK only funds organisations operating in Africa, Europe, India and the United States, and occasionally Latin America. An organisation operating in India is therefore in scope. DRK funds organisations, not individuals.

Who it does not fund

DRK says it does not fund idea-stage or pre-pilot organisations, or organisations past Series A. It also lists several legal forms it does not fund: US 501(c)(4) organisations, S-Corps, partnerships such as LPs and LLPs, LLCs and investment funds.

For Indian founders, check your legal structure against that list before you spend time on the form. DRK's site does not say how these forms map onto Indian entity types. If you are unsure, the general enquiries inbox is the place to ask.

How selection works

DRK reviews nearly 3,000 applications every year and funds up to 20 organisations in a year. The path has several stages.

First, you submit the application. Next come early interviews, a few exploratory conversations with a small group of DRK team members. Roughly one in five applicants reaches this stage. Formal diligence follows for a smaller group, and typically takes two to four months. After that the organisation meets the wider team and the investment committee, and then closing begins.

How to apply

Apply through the online form on the DRK website. It takes about 30 to 60 minutes to complete. DRK does not review applications sent by email to any member of its team, and says there are no exceptions. Questions about the process go to the general enquiries inbox, info@drkfoundation.org.

Scale and track record

All figures below are DRK's own claims. Its home page says 283 organisations have been funded, while its about page says 280, so treat the count as roughly 280. The impact page reports that its portfolio has reached about 711 million lives in total, and that 71 portfolio organisations have each reached over one million lives. These are the funder's own numbers and are not independently checked.

DRK's portfolio page lists organisations by region, but the regional filter does not load without scripting, so we could not read the India list from it. Names that appear in DRK's news items and portfolio cards with an India connection include Skills Builder Global, Darsel, Indus Action, Karya, Adalat AI and Kheyti.

A separate call that is not for India

DRK has run a call with NextLadder Ventures for technology and AI-enabled organisations that help low-income Americans move through housing, benefits, health, workforce and financial systems. It is limited to US-based organisations serving US populations, so Indian founders should not apply to it. It is a separate strand and does not change the open application above.

Contact and locations

DRK's pages carry no street address or office location. Its header links to a separate DRK site for Europe. The only contact route on the pages we read is the general enquiries inbox for questions and the online form for applications.