- RI Labs welcomes dozens of leading VCs, institutional investors and tech companies from around the world to its members.
- RI Labs Advisory Board, representing many of the private sector’s most prominent and respected tech brands, ratifies charter for building and leading enduring companies around five pillars of responsible innovation.
- Charter sets out core approaches to responsible company building and the common values of the organization’s members.
SAN FRANCISCO, June 13, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Responsible Innovation Labs today announced the ratification of its charter by its advisory board representing the best-in-tech, and a slate of new members, including a cohort of leading venture capital firms, limited partners and technology companies.
Responsible Innovation Labs is a non-profit consortium of leaders dedicated to building innovative, enduring companies for financial and societal returns. Its mission is to create standards of innovation to serve the needs of a global society, and to build enduring companies that re-center technology as a force for good. The charter outlines how the organization will approach operationalizing responsible innovation, and the values that will shape RI Labs as it establishes itself to serve the tech industry and beyond.
Today, RI Labs also announced the membership of a cohort of organizations, including leading venture capital firms, institutional investors, and technology companies, all of which have committed to the newly ratified charter. The venture capital firms also will leverage their networks to bring additional tech companies into the fold. A full list of new members can be found here.
“Responsible innovation practices at every stage of a company are critical to ensuring the health of business and society broadly,” said Nitin Nohria, Executive Chairman, Thrive Capital. “We are committed to helping the companies we support realize their full potential, and believe the next generation of great companies will tackle inequity, privacy, sustainability, and threats to democracy as first-order problems."
“The goal of RI Labs is to empower the next generation of companies to learn from the past and ensure technology has a positive impact on society at large,” said Brad Hoover, CEO, Grammarly. “RI Labs is doing important work bringing together investors, executives, policymakers, and academics, so we can put principles of Responsible Innovation into practice.”
"At Evolv, we see that technology can play a meaningful role in addressing some of society's most challenging problems, and that it also creates complex societal questions to work through,” said Peter George, CEO and President, Evolv Technology. “We're excited to be a part of RI Labs and help the industry develop frameworks for what responsible innovation looks like in practice."
RI Labs believes that its mission can best be achieved through collaboration among industry, investors, executives, policymakers, academics, and other stakeholders. Consistent with that commitment, new members are organizing into working groups around the five pillars, and are tasked with developing standards for responsible innovation, which RI Labs plans to publish in Q4 2022.
“Ratification of the Charter and building this initial coalition are important steps, but our work is only just beginning,” said Jon Zieger, co-founder and executive director, Responsible Innovation Labs. “It’s been truly inspiring to collaborate with our advisory board – both on the charter and our strategic planning. There is no shortage of energy or enthusiasm. The real work starts now.”
Responsible Innovation Labs was co-founded by General Catalyst’s Hemant Taneja, Stripe’s former General Counsel Jon Zieger, and Stripe’s former Head of International Diede van Lamoen, all of whom collaborated previously through General Catalyst’s early investments and work in the global payments platform Stripe. RI Labs works in partnership with leaders across industries and disciplines and will develop new standards, tools and methods for ethically deploying technology and building enduring companies while promoting accountability through transparency.
About Responsible Innovation Labs
Responsible Innovation Labs is a non-profit consortium dedicated to helping founders, executive leaders, and investors build innovative, enduring companies for financial and societal returns. RI Labs’s mission is to reset the standards of innovation through radical collaboration, and in doing so, reshape the promise and future of technology to serve the needs of a global society. RI Labs is open to partner companies that share and embrace that vision. To join the movement and learn more, visit: www.rilabs.org.
Media contact: generalcatalyst@milltownpartners.com
Notes to Editors:
Advisory Board: Toyin Ajayi, Co-Founder and CEO, Cityblock; Neil Blumenthal, Co-founder and Co-CEO, Warby Parker; Jim Breyer, Founder and CEO, Breyer Capital; Rachel Carlson, Co-Founder and CEO, Guild Education; Ken Chenault, Chairman and Managing Director, General Catalyst and former Chairman and CEO, American Express; Ken Frazier, Chairman, Health Assurance Initiatives, General Catalyst; Executive Chairman and former CEO, Merck; Jon Iwata, Executive Fellow, Yale School of Management; Maurice Jones, CEO, OneTen; Youngme Moon, Donald K. David Professor of Business, Harvard Business School, and Board Member, Mastercard, Sweetgreen, Unilever, Warby Parker; Rick Klausner, Co-Founder, Altos Labs; Sam Palmisano, former Chairman and CEO, IBM; Josh Reeves, Co-Founder and CEO, Gusto; Hemant Taneja, Managing Partner, General Catalyst, who serves as the Labs’ Chairman; Lila Preston, Head of Growth Equity, Generation Investment Management; Glen Tullman, CEO, Transcarent.
