Accountability

Commitment to DEI

Breaking through starts with breaking down barriers

We believe homogeneity has never led to the next big idea. Changemakers come from all walks of life and backgrounds, and VMG believes diversity of thought is essential to progress. We nurture an ecosystem that connects changemakers from diverse experiences, industries, and backgrounds to unlock greater potential. Breaking through starts with breaking down barriers.

Improving DEI within our own team and our industry is a work in progress, but one that we are committed to in our actions and approach to investments.

Investing Internship Program

The mission of VMG’s Investing Internship Program is to create early access to careers in the finance industry for historically marginalized communities. Every year, we recruit a select number of rising juniors and provide them with a summer internship that will jumpstart their understanding of investing and support them in securing a junior summer internship in the finance and business ecosystems.

commitment to ESG

Committed to companies setting the bar

VMG has aspired to operate with ESG (environmental, social, and governance) principles in mind since our founding, with numerous investments in better-for-you brands and user-focused technologies. Many of our portfolio companies are setting the industry standard for customer welfare, safety, quality, and sustainability, and we are proud of their accomplishments in this space.

A few examples:

Environmental
‍Several of our portfolio companies are spearheading broad, multi-year environmental projects. A great example of this is Daily Harvest, who launched a multi-year project focused on improving the soil health of California almond farmland.

‍Social
‍Some companies are really pushing the envelope when it comes to social issues. The Honey Pot Company launched a “reclaiming wellness” campaign during Black History Month to educate, advocate, and empower the black community to commit to transformative self care.

‍Governance
‍One of the first steps on the ESG journey is corporate governance, and we are proud to say that over half of our portfolio companies have made it a priority to have ESG oversight by one or more employees. Many of our companies, including Daily Harvest, The Pill Club, and Ancient Nutrition, have named dedicated ESG leaders.

Annual ESG Report

While VMG seeks to integrate certain ESG factors into its investment process and firm operations, there is no guarantee that VMG’s ESG strategy will be successfully implemented or that any investments or operations will have a positive ESG impact. Applying ESG factors to investment decisions involves qualitative and subjective decisions and there is no guarantee the criteria used by VMG to formulate decisions regarding ESG, or VMG’s judgment regarding the same, will be reflected in the beliefs or values of any particular client or investor. There are significant differences in interpretation of what constitutes positive ESG impact and those interpretations are rapidly changing. The description of ESG integration herein is provided to illustrate VMG’s intended approach to investing and firm operations; however, there is no guarantee that the processes will be followed in every circumstance or at all.

DOWNLOAD the 2022 esg Report