Top-Decile Returns for Sesame Street

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We launched Collab+Sesame in 2016 as a pre-seed and seed-focused fund with a simple but powerful thesis: as tech entrepreneurs come of age, they would create a new wave of products and services to transform the kids’ space.

Sesame Street’s Endowment took a courageous step. It entrusted us with its brand, one of the best brands in the world, along with decades of research, a global audience, and a reputation built on kindness and learning, and said, “Show us what you can do.” We were humbled by that vote of confidence, and every day since, we’ve been mindful of the responsibility.

Fast-forward to present day, and here are the numbers through March 31, 2025:

These metrics rank in the top decile for Net DPI, Net TVPI, and Net IRR among all global venture capital funds in that vintage (PitchBook’s Q3 2024 benchmarks, with preliminary Q4 data).

But these returns are about more than just numbers. Along the way, we’ve been fortunate to back some incredible teams, including Lovevery, Outschool, Step, OK Play (acquired by Dapper Labs), Yup (acquired by Prenda), Luminopia, and others. Their hard work and vision have been instrumental in shaping this success.

Beyond financial returns, these numbers represent the foundation for new research and initiatives that reach millions of children worldwide. Every dollar we’ve returned to Sesame Street’s Endowment flows back into the mission that first inspired us: helping kids learn, empathize, and explore.

Collab+Sesame isn’t a story about charity, nor a conventional venture fund. It’s proof that when you blend rigorous investment discipline with a genuine mission, you can deliver market-leading returns and meaningful change.

Read our 2016 launch post and explore how Wired, TechCrunch, and The New Yorker covered the start of this journey.

Hat tip to Tim Brady and Geoff Ralston for creating ImagineK12, which was an early inspiration for Collab+Sesame.

Past performance is not indicative of future results. There can be no assurance that any Collaborative fund or investment will achieve its objective or avoid substantial losses. Certain statements contained herein reflect the subjective views and opinions of Collab. Such statements cannot be independently verified and are subject to change. In addition, there is no guarantee that all investments will exhibit characteristics that are consistent with the initiatives, standards, or metrics described herein. Certain portfolio companies shown herein are for illustrative purposes only and are a subset of Collaborative investments. Not all investments will have the same characteristics as the investments described herein. Certain of the investments made by Collab+Sesame and their performance are unrealized. Actual realized returns may different materially from the currently valued returns of these investments. References to “Net IRR” are to the internal rate of return calculated at the fund level. In addition, references to “Net IRR”, “Net TVPI” and “Net DPI” are calculated after payment of applicable management fees, carried interest and other applicable expenses. Internal rates of return are computed on a “dollar-weighted” basis, which takes into account the timing of cash flows, the amounts invested at any given time, and unrealized values as of the relevant valuation date.
It should not be assumed that any impact initiatives, standards or metrics described herein will apply to each asset in which any Collab fund invests or that they have applied each of the prior investments. Impact of an investment is only one of the many considerations that the Collab funds take into account when making investment decisions, and other considerations can be expected in certain circumstances to outweigh those considerations.

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