Introduction
Housing Trust Silicon Valley released an impact report of its TECH Fund program, which brought together tech industry and philanthropic partners to disburse more than $222 million in loans to create about 7,800 units of affordable housing across 11 Bay Area counties. The evaluation revealed the program was a model for how to provide developers with the flexible financing necessary to buy land and kickstart their projects while giving large employers and philanthropic organizations a way to support affordable housing in the region.
The report, titled Activating New Investment for Affordable Housing: How the TECH Fund Converts Corporate and Philanthropic Capital into Homes, conducted by the Community Planning Collaborative, found through interviews with investors, borrowers, and public agencies that the program served as a model for how to combine and utilize tech investment and philanthropy to advance affordable housing.
Impact
With $119 million raised from corporate and charitable partners including Cisco, Google, LinkedIn, NetApp, Pure Storage, the David & Lucile Packard Foundation, the Grove Foundation, the Jewish Community Federation, and the Sobrato Organization, the TECH Fund has since 2017:
The evaluation also documents the powerful social, health, and economic outcomes associated with affordable housing. Stable housing is linked to improved health, higher educational attainment, greater economic mobility, and stronger communities.
About the Program
Through this program, Housing Trust was able to give affordable housing developers flexible financing options to buy land and get projects off the ground while giving companies and philanthropic organizations a meaningful way to invest in the communities where they operate.
The TECH Fund transformed how the tech sector thinks about affordable housing investment, and attracted significant investments from corporate partners including Cisco, Google, LinkedIn, NetApp and Pure Storage and from various philanthropic partners like the David & Lucille Packard Foundation, the Grove Foundation, the Jewish Community Federation, and the Sobrato Family Foundation. Every loan through the TECH Fund has been paid back and the money lent out again, maximizing the fund’s impact.
The TECH Fund has also served as a model for companies work to spur affordable housing in other regions, including Microsoft’s 2019 efforts to support affordable housing in Seattle and Apple’s $2.5 billion plan unveiled that same year to address the housing availability and affordability crisis in California, which included Apple’s commitment for up to $150 million for the Apple Affordable Housing Fund to Housing Trust.
The TECH Fund and its proven impact are also already shaping what we do next here at the Housing Trust. The $200 Million Building Impact Initiative, launched in October 2025, builds directly on what the TECH Fund proved works, and is targeting the creation and preservation of more than 7,400 additional homes across the Bay Area. The Initiative brings together corporate and financial institutions, philanthropic partners, and community foundations to provide flexible, below-market capital to developers to get projects off the ground.
Read the Full Report
Housing Trust TECH Fund Evaluation – Activating New Investments for Affordable Housing
can be read here.