Adaptation Ventures is a new angel investor group focused on disability and accessibility tech

Summary

The global assistive technology market was valued at more than $22 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow substantially by 2030. Despite the potential market size, many founders building tech to help people with disabilities struggle to secure the kind of early funding needed to get their companies off the ground in the first place. Adaptation Ventures is a new angel group hoping to fill that funding gap by providing capital to early-stage startups building accessibility tech. It will back startups building tech specifically for persons with disabilities as well as companies with products designed for a broader market that also helps those populations. The firm was co-founded by married couple Brittany Palmer and Rich Palmer (pictured above), both of whom are former startup founders, angel investors, and persons with disabilities. Brittany told TechCrunch she experienced this funding gap problem firsthand when she tried to raise capital for her company Beeyonder, a startup that offered virtual travel experiences to persons with disabilities. “Venture capital firms really didn’t understand the disability community, or how big it was, or the opportunities to sell to them,” she said. “When I was talking with founders in the disability tech space, there was a similar sort of consensus that a lot of people in the startup and venture world really didn’t understand the space.” Rich, the former co-founder of Gravyty, found the same sentiment while he was working on the investing side as a managing director, and then angel investor, at Launchpad Venture Group, an angel investing group focused on tech and science-based startups. “We knew this opportunity existed,” he said. “We were meeting incredible founders, and trying to figure out the best way to get capital to them.” Despite the couple’s angel investing experience, they initially set out to raise a traditional venture fund and pitched numerous LPs, including impact investors and high-net-worth individuals. While they d...