Vital is funded by $6.61 million from 100+ individual investors — members, friends, and staff — with co-founders Dave Sacher and Nam Phan still running it. When its workers organized, Vital negotiated rather than fought: the first two union contracts in climbing-industry history were ratified in December 2024, and the union reports first-year pay up an average of $3,000 with health premiums down 30%. The company answers to its founders, its member-investors, and its workers' contracts, though its environmental and sourcing practices have no formal public record beyond that.