Access Ventures has launched a new public benefit corporation that will work with local corporations, nonprofits and community partners in an effort to drive innovation and growth in the Louisville and Southern Indiana region.
The new for-profit entity is called Render, a name that likely rings a bell for those engaged in the startup ecosystem.
Render Capital, a $15 million regional fund established in 2020, will serve as the capital arm of the new Render organization and will continue to invest in early-stage startups. While many of its experienced team members will move over to the new public benefit corporation, Access Ventures will operate as a separate entity and maintain its mission of building a more inclusive and creative economy.
“We’ve been doing this work as Access Ventures for the past seven years and are excited to now have Render take this team and the approach to the next level,” said Bryce Butler, managing director of Access Ventures, in a news release. “While Access Ventures is still very much active in building a more inclusive and creative economy both regionally and nationally, the Render team is positioned to exponentially serve the regional community by working with partners to maximize their impact. This is an exciting organizational change and strategy move that will ultimately drive growth for countless businesses in our region.”
Patrick Henshaw, who joined Render Capital and Access Ventures this spring, will serve as the managing director of Render. He said the goal is for Render to become a Certified B-Corporation, meaning the for-profit business would meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose as assessed by the nonprofit B Lab.
“We believe in the impact of innovation, and it’s exciting to already have local corporations and organizations see this value and want to sign on to work with our experienced team,” Henshaw said. “There are a lot of exciting things happening in our own backyard as a result of Render, and we’re calling on other for-profit and nonprofit partners to get onboard and really start focusing on their innovation, growth and impact.”
Rebecca Brown Rice, former director of operations at the Louisville Healthcare CEO Council, has joined the Render team as director of product. Rice is formerly the ExCITE Program Manager for the University of Louisville, director of XLerateHealth, and she studied neuroscience at Brown University and Yale University.
“For years, I have enjoyed watching all that Access Ventures has been doing to help communities flourish and to create impact, and now we’ll be able to do this for many different organizations under Render,” Rice said. “I’m thrilled to join this experienced and knowledgeable team, and I look forward to being part of the solution in our local community as we help startups, corporations and nonprofits grow.”
Render, which envisions a world where opportunity outweighs obstacles, has already started working with a number of local corporations and community partners, like Louisville Water Company. For more information on Render, visit its website here.
