Ripple’s Chris Larsen gives ‘groundbreaking’ donation to SF State

Chris Larsen, Co-Founder of Ripple, his wife Lyna Lam and non-profit venture Rippleworks are stumping up $25 million in XRP for a university in California.

The donation to San Francisco State University’s College of Business is believed to be the largest gift ever made in a digital asset to a university in the US. SF State now plans to name the University’s College of Business the Lam Family College of Business.

The money will support the Lam-Larsen Fund for Global Innovation and two endowed chairs. The main aim is to “support students in learning about and becoming changemakers of local and global entrepreneurial and FinTech ecosystems”.

“This groundbreaking gift will position the College of Business as an evolving, distinctly diverse and industry-relevant epicentre of business innovation and entrepreneurship,” says University President Leslie E. Wong. “Chris, Lyna and Rippleworks are innovators, and their gift will inspire our students to creatively and strategically approach the business and tech landscapes to become the next generation of entrepreneurs and global business leaders.”

Ripple for Good

Last year, Ripple  launched Ripple for Good, which focuses on projects related to education and financial inclusion.

“When we reflected on the unique role Ripple could play from a social impact standpoint, we kept landing on the idea that the benefits of these new technologies should reach as many people as possible,” said Ken Weber, Head of Social Impact for Ripple.

“If we are truly committed to transformative global change, we will work to help ensure that innovations in banking and global payments are available everywhere to everyone, among unbanked and underbanked populations and in economies and economic sectors that serve the greater good. Our goal is to deliver on the promise of an Internet of Value for all.”

Ripple for Good is collaborating with RippleWorks, which was co-founded by Larsen and Doug Galen.

“Ripple was built upon the belief that its technology could improve lives, and they had the foresight to support RippleWorks four years ago as proof that those weren’t just words. Since then, it has worked on 70 projects in 55 countries to improve the lives of over three million patients, six million students and 250 million people,” said Galen.

“This announcement to create an even deeper alignment with RippleWorks is another validation of our long-standing commitment to leverage our technology, financial resources and team to improve lives. RippleWorks is thrilled to have even more of Ripple’s help to solve the massive challenges facing people throughout the world.”