What Is The Threshold Institute?

The Threshold Institute is a non-profit innovation steward.

We don’t try to own every breakthrough. Instead, we find and prepare the most promising public-benefit technologies and take them to the threshold — where credible partners such as foundations, governments, investors and delivery teams can step in to scale.

We focus on innovations that materially improve life for current and future generations. Our key interests are in clean energy, water resilience, circular waste, low-impact transport, and medical and health technologies that extend both lifespan and healthspan.

Our principles:

  • Evidence-based evaluation

  • Independent, non-partisan

  • Global collaboration

  • Long-term stewardship

Our role is not to compete with venture capital or government.


We de-risk and shape world-changing ideas so others can move faster and with more confidence.

Who We’re Welcoming

Directors

We are assembling a values-aligned founding board with expertise across governance, finance, innovation, philanthropy and public policy.

Directors will:

  • Shape our charter and risk settings

  • Oversee project selection

  • Support our charity & DGR applications

Stewards & Advisers

Stewards bring practical innovation experience. Advisers help ensure scientific, ethical and governance rigour.

Stewards and advisers will:

  • Contribute decades of real-world experience

  • Mentor emerging stewards

  • Build a “what works” knowledge library

Educators, Donors & Grant Makers

We invite educators, philanthropists, family offices and grant providers who want a reliable, transparent pipeline of well-prepared projects.

They may:

  • Co-design learning pathways

  • Align giving or grant criteria

  • Support early-stage capacity building

The Threshold Institute is intentionally multinational and multigenerational — a founding circle of people across regions and life stages who share a commitment to leaving the world better than we found it.

Decades of Lived Innovation Experience

Founder: Steve Hastings

Steve Hastings brings over 20 years of experience commercialising early-stage technologies in energy, water, waste and transport. He has worked across start-ups, research organisations and public–private collaborations, helping move ideas from lab bench and pilot plant to real-world deployment.

He has had ‘skin in the game’ for decades: travelling the world since 2004, speaking to technologists, financiers, intitutions such as The World Bank and governments; building an understanding of how and why innovations make it, and who helps and who hinders.

Steve founded The Threshold Institute to separate evaluation and preparation from commercial ownership — creating a trusted place where innovations can be strengthened before being handed to the right delivery partners.

Advisers and Stewards

We are growing our team of advisers and stewards. These people have centuries of collective experience across:

  • Frontier clean-tech

  • Medical research translation

  • Impact investing and philanthropy

  • Systems thinking and community leadership

Profiles will be published as our charity and DGR status progresses.

How the Threshold Institute Works

1. Identify

We scan for public-benefit innovations with credible science, strong teams and outsized potential.

2. Evaluate & Prepare

We apply structured frameworks covering impact, risk, governance and implementation pathways, helping teams refine their models, partnerships and stories.

3. Bring to the Threshold

When a project is ready, we present it to aligned funders, delivery partners and communities — remaining involved as stewards, not controllers.

We stand in the middle of the bridge:

Innovators bring their best work. Funders meet us at the threshold.

Together we shorten the distance between “promising concept” and “real-world outcomes”.

Register Your Interest & Invite a Conversation

If you’d like to explore joining as a director, steward, adviser, educator, grant provider or donor, please share a few details in the form below. We will follow up personally and, if aligned, arrange a conversation.

Prefer a chat?

 In your message, simply write:

“Steve, I’d love a 30-minute exploratory chat. Here are some times that work…”

We will only use your details to contact you about The Threshold Institute. No spam. No list-sharing.