Primordium Foundation is the private foundation of tech entrepreneur Peter Reinhardt, who founded Segment and Charm Industrial, and his wife Erika, who is a former artificial-intelligence engineer for OpenAI and runs the environmentalist nonprofit Spark Climate Solutions. ¹

Founded in 2022, the Foundation engages in both grantmaking and social investing, focusing on the environment, elections, and public policy from a left-of-center perspective. Primordium’s grantees include groups including Carbon180, Clean Air Task Force, Evergreen Collaborative, the Elections Group, Center for Civic Design, and Third Way. ² At the time of its launch, the Foundation had $5,509,961 in assets. ³ Peter Reinhardt’s company, Charm Industrial, produces carbon-capture technologies. ⁴

Founding and History

Primordium Foundation was founded in San Francisco in 2022 by Peter and Erika Reinhardt, a Silicon Valley couple. ⁵ Peter is a serial entrepreneur, having dropped out of MIT to co-found the multi-billion dollar company Segment in 2011, co-founded Charm Industrial in 2018, and sat on the board of the environmentalist tech company Arcadia Power since 2021. ⁶ Erika also went to MIT, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical and electrical engineering in 2012. She worked as an engineering director at OpenAI, co-led the elections team at U.S. Digital Response, and co-founded Spark Climate Solutions. ⁷ Peter was listed on Forbes’ “30 under 30” list in 2015 for founding Segment. ⁸

In 2020, Erika wrote a blog post announcing an intention to reorganize and increase her and her husband’s philanthropy. ⁹ The following year, the couple raised $5,483,468 for their foundation while not issuing any grants and spending $8,000 on legal fees, before officially registering Primordium Foundation in 2022. The Foundation’s total assets were $5,509,961 in cash. ¹⁰ Primordium has since engaged in both grantmaking and social investing. ¹¹

Advocacy Investments and Grantmaking

Primordium’s grants and investments focus on promoting left-of-center environmentalist goals, such as reduction of carbon emissions and promoting belief in man-made catastrophic climate change. These supported companies include Spark Climate Solutions, Erika Reinhardt’s nonprofit, as well as environmentalist groups such as Carbon180, Clean Air Task Force, and Evergreen Collaborative. Primordium also donates to left-of-center elections groups, such as The Elections Group and Center for Civic Design, and the liberal think-tank Third Way. ¹²

Peter Reinhardt’s company, Charm Industrial, of which he is founder and CEO, produces carbon-capture technologies. ¹³

1.  “Primordium Foundation + Fund.” Primordium Foundation. Accessed July 3, 2023. https://www.primordiumfoundation.org/
2. “Grantees.” Primordium Foundation. Accessed July 3, 2023. https://www.primordiumfoundation.org/grantees
3. “Primordium Foundation.” CauseIQ. Accessed July 3, 2023. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/primordium-foundation,873791346/
4. “Team.” Charm Industrial. Accessed July 3, 2023. https://charmindustrial.com/team
5. “Primordium Foundation + Fund.” Primordium Foundation. Accessed July 3, 2023. https://www.primordiumfoundation.org/
6. “Peter Reinhardt.” LinkedIn. Accessed July 3, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterreinhardt/
7. “Erika (Bildsten) Reinhardt.” LinkedIn. Accessed July 3, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/embreinhardt/
8. “Peter Reinhardt.” Forbes. Accessed July 3, 2023. https://www.forbes.com/profile/peter-reinhardt/?sh=2300170e2934
9. ^[1] Erika Reinhardt. “Fixing My Chaotic Donation Patterns.” Erikareinhardt.com. July 5, 2020. Accessed July 3, 2023. https://erikareinhardt.com/donation-tracking
10. “Primordium Foundation.” CauseIQ. Accessed July 3, 2023. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/primordium-foundation,873791346/
11. “Grantees.” Primordium Foundation. Accessed July 3, 2023. https://www.primordiumfoundation.org/grantees
12. “Grantees.” Primordium Foundation. Accessed July 3, 2023. https://www.primordiumfoundation.org/grantees
13. “Team.” Charm Industrial. Accessed July 3, 2023. https://charmindustrial.com/team