Karma Capital – founded by multi-millionaire who gave away 90% of his money – wants to upend 'toxic' VC model
22 sep. 2025
15:40
Karma Capital is a new VC with a very unusual investment thesis – it only backs steward-owned companies in an effort to generate more impact.
"The classic VC structure encourages companies to grow quickly and beyond planetary boundaries, it can be very toxic and extractive," co-founder Theresa Böttger tells Impact Loop.
"The classic VC structure encourages companies to grow quickly and beyond planetary boundaries, it can be very toxic and extractive," co-founder Theresa Böttger tells Impact Loop.
The story of Karma Capital begins with four college students who wanted to read faster. Their solution was Blinkist, an app that turned dense textbooks into bite-sized summaries. It caught on quickly, and in 2023 Blinkist was acquired in a deal reportedly worth around $100m. The founders became multi-millionaires overnight.
One of them, Sebastian Klein, who left Blinkist in 2016 but remained a co-owner, made over €5m in the deal. Then, he parted with 90% of his fortune, keeping just €500,000 for himself.