Regina Kline, a former disability rights lawyer, co-launched Enable Ventures with Sorenson Impact’s Jim Sorenson three years ago to close the disability wealth gap (see “Agent of Impact”). Enable is raising a $75 million fund to invest in tech-enabled tools designed by and for the roughly 1.7 billion people with disabilities worldwide.
Liberty Mutual Investments, the $100 billion investment arm of Liberty Mutual Insurance, will back Enable’s fund and co-invest with the impact investor in disability tech solutions.
“We see an increased need for solutions that address this historically underserved and fast-growing market,” said Liberty Mutual’s Ommeed Sathe. “We believe that our position as a flexible, long-term partner can help leading operators and investors like Enable scale across industries and create lasting value.”
Enable is also backed by $5 million from UnitedHealth Group.
Inclusive tech
Enable has made a half-dozen disability-led and/or focused investments, carving out a specialty in tech solutions for upskilling people with disabilities and assisting them at work. Enable has backed Daivergent’s job training for adults living with disabilities, and Inclusively, a workforce retention startup helping employers gain access to professionals with disabilities.
Earlier this year, Enable backed Be My Eyes, a Danish startup that connects blind and low-vision individuals with volunteers for support with everyday tasks. Be My Eyes is developing Be My AI, which uses Open AI’s Chat GPT-4 to help companies like Microsoft, Hilton and Meta provide visual interpretation products and services.
