Los Angeles Times

Forget $700 juicers — this venture fund wants to help solve middle-class problems

Silicon Valley investors love to fund companies that solve problems. But the startups that get funded aren't always the ones tackling issues that are most pressing to the average American.

Venture capital firm and startup incubator Kairos wants to change that with a $25 million fund announced Thursday.

Rather than backing companies that build products for the financially comfortable, such as $700 juicers or $1,499 tea infusers, it will fund companies looking to solve problems for the less comfortable: the shrinking middle class, people riddled with

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