29 Jul Allen Smith Takes the IU Founders and Funders Pledge as a Small Step to Bring Positive Change into the World
Allen Smith is investing in IU—because he remembers when IU invested in him.
Smith, a graduate of Indiana University, recently took the IU Founders and Funders pledge. The pledge encourages IU-affiliated innovators and investors to make a commitment to donate a portion of their future success to any cause at IU that aligns with their values. Smith learned about the pledge at the third annual IU Founders and Funders Network Venture Summit—which took place in May in Bloomington.
“I sat at a table with other pledge supporters and listened to their motivations and how the program worked,” Smith said. “The past few years I have been thinking about how to make a bigger and more positive impact in the world around me and this feels like it could be an important part of that.”
The initiative by IU Ventures, in collaboration with the IU Foundation and IU Alumni Association, connects like-minded, IU-affiliated founders and funders with a community of individuals who want to integrate philanthropy into their business goals and objectives. Smith likened it to a small first step that he can take today to commit to bringing positive change into the world.
“I’m at a place in my career, and life, where I want to pay forward the opportunities I’ve had and to hopefully make a difference in the lives of people who, like me, grew up economically disadvantaged,” he said.
Smith, who graduated in 1997, lived in the Wilkie South co-op, had a radio show on WIUS, and was active in photography and fencing. He was born in Madison, Indiana, a small town on the Ohio river between Cincinnati and Louisville.
“IU was the best school I could afford, and I could only afford it because it was in my state and they had the ability and willingness to put together a financial aid package that covered almost all of my costs,” he explained.
Today, Smith is the founder and CEO of Semanttic, a Generative UX company transforming the way enterprise teams approach UX and UI development.
“I started Semanttic because there’s a major problem with enterprise software: it’s expensive and costly to implement, and is often very frustrating for people to use,” Smith said. “The new capabilities afforded by generative AI mean we can bring a great user experience to everyone’s daily jobs, and do it at a fraction of today’s cost and time.”
Smith’s interest in digital products and user interfaces started at IU and gave him his first sense of what a career in technology could be. He became captivated by the early web and even built the first website for the History and Philosophy of Science Department as a graduation project.
“Every professional opportunity I’ve had since IU, and the possibility to move up socio-economically, I can trace back to my time at IU,” he said. “It was an incredibly supportive and creative space for me and I’m very proud of our university and its positive impact in the world. The pledge, for me, is a way to align the power and resources of IU with an agenda of positive change in the world I want to enact,” Smith said.
The IU Founders and Funders Pledge gives entrepreneurs and investors the opportunity to provide a nonbinding philanthropic commitment of any size to IU—to be fulfilled as future success is attained. Those who make the pledge retain control of the amount, timing and area of designation of their gift. They may direct their pledge to any campus, unit or program at IU, and they do not need to decide upon designation until the time of the actual gift.
Entrepreneurs and investors will be asked to complete a form on the IU Founders and Founders Pledge webpage to indicate their interest in taking the pledge. As they approach an exit period, initial public offering or acquisition—or achieve consistent revenue growth—they can connect with IU gift planning experts who will work with their financial and tax advisors to determine the best path forward.
There are no immediate tax implications associated with making the IU Founders and Funders Pledge. Taxable events occur later at the time of pledge fulfillment with a gift to IU.
For more information about taking the pledge, visit the IU Founders and Funders Pledge page on the IU Ventures website.
About IU Ventures:
IU Ventures invests in and supports IU-affiliated early-stage companies. Its investment programs include the IU Philanthropic Venture Fund, IU Angel Network, Shoebox Fund and Innovate Indiana Fund. It further supports IU founders through the Executive in Residence Program and IU Founders and Funders Network. Student support is provided through a variety of engagements, including the new IU Venture Fellows Program. Each program takes unique approaches to accelerate and support the positive impacts that entrepreneurs affiliated with IU already achieve across the world. IU Ventures is a recognized leader in increasing opportunities for diverse and historically underserved entrepreneurs and investing in Indiana startups with a shared commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.
Media Contact:
Jon Barada
jbarada@iu.edu