HBAR Foundation

CEO Shayne Higdon oversees the Foundation's strategy and deployment decisions. The leadership team includes Chief Strategy Officer Aparna Jha and Director of Regulatory Affairs Sabrina Trupia. Investment decisions are made by the Foundation's investment committee, which reviews grant proposals and venture opportunities across its six thematic funds (per public record).

The Foundation receives applications through its open grant program, which accepts proposals from developers, startups, and enterprises building on Hedera. It also engages in active business development through its network of ecosystem partners, including the Hedera Governing Council members like Google and IBM. The Foundation's thematic fund leads — such as the DeFi Fund and Enterprise Innovation Fund — generate deal flow by attending conferences, hosting hackathons, and recruiting directly (per the firm's official blog).

The HBAR Foundation is structured as a for-profit entity, distinct from many blockchain ecosystem foundations that operate as non-profits. It issues grants that often include HBAR tokens, aligning incentives with the network's growth, and also operates a venture arm that makes direct equity investments in early-stage projects. This dual structure allows the Foundation to support ecosystem builders while capturing upside from successful investments (per the firm's official communications).

The Foundation targets a broad range from early-stage grants (pre-seed to Series A) to later-stage venture investments and partnerships with established enterprises. Its grant programs are designed for developers and startups at the earliest stages, while its venture arm focuses on growth-stage companies that have demonstrated product-market fit. The Enterprise Innovation Fund also targets corporate pilots and proof-of-concepts (per the firm's official blog).

The Foundation does not publicly disclose excluded sectors. However, its six thematic funds — Sustainable Impact, Crypto Economy, Metaverse & Gaming, Enterprise Innovation, DeFi, and Culture & Entertainment — define broad areas of interest. Projects that do not align with Hedera's carbon-negative mandate or that engage in activities prohibited by regulatory guidance (e.g., privacy coins) are likely excluded (per public record).

The HBAR Foundation operates independently from the Hedera Governing Council, which is the group of global corporations that govern the Hedera network. The Foundation was initially funded by the Council with a grant of over $4.5 billion in HBAR tokens, but it makes its own allocation decisions and has its own leadership. The Council does not direct the Foundation's investment choices, though the Foundation's mandate is aligned with the Council's goal of growing the Hedera ecosystem (per the firm's official communications).

The Foundation operates a Sustainable Impact Fund that allocates grants to projects addressing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) challenges using Hedera's technology. This fund is not a separate philanthropic entity but is integrated into the Foundation's overall grant-making structure. The Sustainable Impact Fund has supported projects including carbon credit tracking and supply chain transparency initiatives (per the firm's official blog).