Venture: FreeWorld
Investment: $3M Grant
Portfolio: Scaling Capital
Investment date: September 2025
Region(s) served: United States
Sector: Economic Empowerment
Core Impact Metric: Increase in incomes
Helping justice-impacted individuals generate lasting livelihoods
FreeWorld operates a training program designed for justice-impacted individuals – called FreeAgents – to gain a permit (and eventual license) in commercial truck driving. Once FreeAgents complete the program and truck driving school, the FreeWorld team helps to place them in high-demand jobs across the commercial trucking industry. FreeWorld also continues to provide job support and coaching long beyond their program.
Why Rippleworks Invested:
FreeWorld has the chance to scale their program across new states in the coming years with additional, flexible grant funding. In addition, they are pursuing an earned revenue strategy by accessing Workforce Innovation & Opportunity Act (WIOA) dollars at the state level to help cut their program costs and support more FreeAgents.