Kate Goodall, co-founder and CEO of D.C. accelerator Halcyon, is stepping down from her role to head up a new investment fund that will look to be a more active source of capital for social impact startups in 2024.
The new CEO will be Daniel J. Barker, managing director of Halcyon's incubator program since early 2022. He will assume the role on Jan. 1. At that time, Goodall will become co-managing partner of Halcyon Fund II along with Dahna Goldstein, who’s leaving her role as chief investment officer.
Halcyon was started almost 10 years ago by Goodall and Dr. Sachiko Kuno, who co-founded two pharmaceutical firms with her former husband and research partner Ryuji Ueno. It was initially part of the S&R Foundation, a nonprofit that supports artists, scientists and social impact entrepreneurs, but was spun off in 2017 so it could tap more resources and not rely solely S&R for funding.
Goodall explained the organization was envisioned as “not your father’s nonprofit” and designed to enhance and promote startups with a social or environmental component. She’s stepping aside now because she feels it's time for fresh ideas at the top.
“I don't think it's healthy for anyone to lead anything for too long,” Goodall said in an interview. “I really saw the potential to be able to hand off this great organization to someone who I think will actually do an even better job than I have done. And you don't pass that up when you see it.”
Before joining Halcyon, Barker headed inclusive growth and social impact divisions at Mastercard Inc. and BlackRock, respectively. He first became acquainted with Halcyon when he was consultant with Deloitte, which provides pro bono support to Halcyon’s incubator fellows. This position will be his highest C-suite role to date and the responsibility of it is not lost on him.
“Kate has really held that responsibility of making sure that we have all the funding that we need, to managing the partners and being that one person where the buck really has to stop,” Barker said.
Atop his to-do list for 2024 is to plan a celebration commemorating 10 years of the Halcyon incubator. The incubator has hosted 35 cohorts made up of dozens of entrepreneurs over the past decade and Barker hopes to bring back as many past founders as he can to the celebration.
The nonprofit is also looking to expand its accelerator program globally, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa.
Goodall, a 2022 Women Who Mean Business honoree, won’t be too far away from the organization as she’ll be eyeing investment opportunities for Halcyon's second fund. The nonprofit declined to say at this point how much it's looking to raise.
The first Halcyon Fund raised $5 million before it closed in 2022. The last investment it made was in brain-surgery device maker Hubly Surgical. With this next fund, Halcyon intends to double down on startups developing technologies addressing climate change and health and social equity, Goodall said.
Of course, Goodall will also watching Barker to see where he steers Halcyon next.
“I've done the foundation, Dan's got the first floor and, and maybe the second as well,” Goodall said. “I'm excited to sit back and watch instead of be driving.”
