The V. Kann Rasmussen Foundation was established in 1991 in honor of Villum Kann Rasmussen (1909-1993), who founded the VELUX group of companies in Denmark in 1941. The Foundation has three principal areas of interest:

1. The Environment. Since its creation, the Foundation has allocated approximately 80% of its funds to strengthen environmental research and education, and to further the involvement of an informed public in environmental decision making.

2. Greenwood and South Carolina. The VELUX companies’ U.S. plant and offices are located in Greenwood, South Carolina, and the Foundation is committed to grant making in the region, especially in the environmental, social and educational areas.

3. Medical Research. The Foundation supports medical research projects, with particular emphasis on eye research.

The trustees of the Foundation believe in the power of collaboration among people and institutions and across disciplines, and seek to reflect this in grantmaking decisions as much as possible.

We wish to express our thanks to our grantees. The Foundation can provide money, but we recognize that it is the grantees that provide the ideas, inspiration, effort and hard work that leads society to make progress toward solving problems. Working with the grantees, we hope to achieve results that benefit society, and that reflect the integrity, seriousness and innovative spirit that were distinctive marks of Villum Kann Rasmussen.

Within this website we highlight the work of several of our grantees, but we respect and admire the achievements of all the grantees we have worked with since our founding.