Adaptation Ventures Journal | Issue 01 | Briefing | June 2025

Saturday, June 28, 2025

We are excited to share our first quarterly newsletter with you – investors, founders, and advocates – all working towards a more accessible future. Adaptation Ventures was founded to unleash innovation in the world’s largest overlooked market through fueling disability and accessible technology. With your support, we are already making a difference.

Our Value Proposition

Adaptation Ventures is a pioneering pre-seed fund dedicated to fueling tech innovation in disability and accessible technology. We’re tapping a massive, underserved market and catalyzing venture-scale returns in an $18 trillion market that touches nearly everyone:

• 2 billion people live with disabilities globally, and nearly everyone will use adaptive technology at some point in their lives
• $18 trillion+ in disposable income is controlled by people with disabilities and their supporters, who have a much higher customer lifetime value and brand loyalty than average
• For every $1 spent on assistive tech, there is a 9x ROI as people engage in activities, go to and excel at work, raise families, and more. The assistive tech industry alone is projected to be $112B by 2034.

Launch & Response

Our official launch in May garnered a great deal of attention and media coverage, starting with our TechCrunch article. We are grateful for the enthusiasm from the community over the past few weeks, and have highlighted a few of our favorites below:

• “Working… with Adaptation Ventures should help speed up the education process and produce better investments and startup outcomes.” Investor | Ned Desmond at SOSV
• “What many don’t realize: startups in this space aren’t just changing lives – they’re also building high-impact, investable, and scalable businesses.” Founder | Rebecca Rosenberg, CEO at ReBokeh
• “This is a major step forward in unlocking capital for a space that delivers both transformative impact and compelling financial returns.” Investor | Paul Kent at disAbled Life Alliance
• “It makes me so happy to see more funds like Adaptation Ventures… And it’s all the better when they are led by people like [Brittany and Rich] who truly understand that impact and financial return go hand-in-hand in this space.” Founder | Erica Cole, CEO at No Limbits
• “Disability tech is a long-overlooked segment ripe for disruption.” Investor | Segal Ventures, focused on women-led VC funds and companies
• “LOVE this – lived experience, in all aspects – disability, tech, investment from both sides – as founders and angels. Perfectly positioned to make an impact for so many”. Founder comment via Kate Jenkins, Head of Community & Partnerships at Remarkable
• “Super cool opportunity with the potential to make a big impact!” Investor | Christopher Mirabile, Executive Chair, Launchpad Venture Group and former Chair, SEC Investor Advisory Committee
• “This is the golden opportunity.” Executive & Speaker | Leslie Carothers

To follow up the initial launch, we have been doing educational content around the massive sizes of these markets, the opportunity to fill the gap in funding and guidance, and showing that there are more people who qualify as accredited investors than you might expect.

Industry News & Policy

Our industry is ever evolving, with incredible new innovations and positive momentum happening every day. However, it is also misunderstood and underestimated (both in size and scope) and faces ongoing headwinds we aim to overcome through entrepreneurship.

Major Positive Developments

• Walmart’s Free Visual Interpretation Service. Walmart partnered with Aira to offer blind and low vision customers free visual interpretation in stores, setting a new standard for accessible retail experiences.
• Meta’s AI-Powered Ray-Bans Are Life-Enhancing for the Blind. While not designed solely for accessibility, these glasses have become valuable assistive devices for reading, navigation, and daily tasks.
• Nvidia launching AI platform to make learning sign language easier. The platform uses a 3D avatar and real-time feedback to assist learners, representing broader trends in AI-driven assistive technology.
• Apple’s Thought-Detection Tech Could Change Life for People With Disabilities. According to the WSJ, Apple is working with the bioelectronics startup Synchron to develop brain-computer interfaces that could allow people with paralysis or severe mobility impairments to control devices with their thoughts.
• Virginia and New Mexico State Accessibility Bills. Both states proposed legislation to strengthen digital accessibility requirements at the state level.
• Stricter Accessibility Standards Coming. Anticipated updates to WCAG 3.0 and global legal reforms are expected to make accessibility requirements more user-focused and rigorous.
• Global Disability Inclusion Report 2025. Published by UNICEF and partners, this report outlines how technological advances are helping to overcome barriers, while also highlighting risks like the digital divide and the need for co-design with people with disabilities.

Areas of Concern

• Academic Study on Wheelchair Service Delivery. Research published in “Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology” identified systemic barriers in wheelchair access and maintenance, calling for policy reforms.
• Federal Judge Blocks NIH Grant Cuts, Rejecting DOJ’s Claims of Unlawful Discrimination. Uncertainty around federal funding has forced disability and advocacy groups to cut back on programs and staff. There are some organizations, such as the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) which are deploying non-dilutive SBIR Grants, but are under threat with looming deadlines and lawsuits.

To Ponder

“You are not your body and hairstyle, but your capacity for choosing
well. If your choices are beautiful, so too will you be.”

– Epictetus, Discourses

Epictetus, one of history’s most influential Stoic philosophers, was born into slavery almost 2,000 years ago and became disabled as a child, yet he overcame immense adversity to become a trusted advisor to emperors and a guiding voice for generations. His life story is a powerful testament to resilience and the capacity to rise above circumstances – values that resonate deeply with our mission. Epictetus’s journey reminds us that our greatest strengths can emerge from our greatest challenges, and that the right community can help us realize our fullest potential.

Our Upcoming Events

If you will be at any of these events, or would like to suggest an event we should attend or speak at, drop us a line.

• Making Space | July 9 Virtual | Rich will be doing a talk on entrepreneurship for 100 professionals with disabilities
• Disability:IN Summit | July 14-17 in Orlando, FL | Brittany will be speaking on the panel “Growing your Business: Looking Beyond Traditional Funding Sources?”
• Disability Innovation Forum | September 18 in Washington, D.C.
• M-Enabling Summit | October 6-8 in Washington, DC
• SOCAP 2025 | October 27-29 in San Francisco

---

Thank you for being part of the Adaptation Ventures journey.

Best,
The Adaptation Ventures Team

This newsletter is for informational purposes only, is not a prospectus, may not be relied on as legal, tax, securities or investment advice and does not constitute an offer to buy or sell interests in Adaptation Ventures Fund I (the “Fund”).