We’ve been working hard to reach this moment for years, so let’s break down the milestones (though we’ll leave out the million details in between):

The Dream – In 2019, our team began to dream about what it would look like to plant solutions to end human trafficking in a soil that could sustain and scale those solutions to all the places they needed to go. Which led us to the world of business for good and impact investments. And in the fall of that year, we launched Altus Solutions, Inc.! The name Altus, derived from the Latin word for “higher, greater, and elevated,” reflects our commitment to elevating the kinds of solutions capable of meeting the global challenge of ending human trafficking. You can learn more about that journey from our founder, Ashleigh Chapman, on the Ending Human Trafficking Podcast #274.

The Build – From 2020-2023, we laid all the foundations, beta-tested all our solutions, and built the team and partnerships to scale forward. It was no small feat to begin with, and was made increasingly challenging by the impact of the global pandemic on the issue of human trafficking. (Human trafficking increased globally by 25%, while at the same, there was a significant decrease of available resources to fight it.) But we made it through, and managed to make our solutions even better, our team and partnerships even stronger, helped every individual and community that reached out for help, and picked up some amazing friends along the way too.

The Investment – In 2023, we were thrilled to welcome Eagle Venture Fund as our lead investor at Altus! EVF is a pioneering leader in the world of impact investments, and its Freedom Fund is especially dedicated to investing in founders and companies that are directly working to end and prevent human trafficking. You can learn more about EVF at Eagle Freedom Fund • Investing to combat Slavery & Human Trafficking. Their partnership helped us take the final steps into our future-state.