Kauffman Fellows

Phil Wickham traced the idea to 1993, when venture capital was widely seen as a “black art” that could not be taught.⁠[1]

The Kauffman Foundation board debated the idea, one detractor calling it “investing in the enemy”; after Michie Slaughter facilitated the dialogue, the board decided to invest.⁠[2]

A 2005 SEC announcement dates the program’s start to 1994.⁠[3]

The program was launched in 1995 as a Kauffman Foundation initiative.⁠[4]

Early Fellows came mostly from other industries and were hired by top venture firms, with Kauffman paying their salaries for two years.⁠[5]

Babson College professor Jeffry TimmonsJeffry TimmonsJeffry A. Timmons (died 2008) was an American entrepreneurship scholar who taught for many years at Babson College, wrote the textbook New Venture Creation, and created the Kauffman Fellows Program for venture capital investors.Open the full entry created the program.⁠[6]

The first class graduated in 1997.⁠[2]

The foundation’s history says the program was spun out as an independent entity in 2000.⁠[4]

In 2001 the Center for Venture Education formed its first independent board, with CEO Trish CostelloTrish CostelloTrish Costello is an American venture investor and entrepreneurship educator, a co-founder, first CEO and CEO Emeritus of the Kauffman Fellows Program, who in 2014 founded Portfolia, a venture fund platform designed for women investors.Open the full entry and chair Jason Green leading the spin-out.⁠[7]

In 2002 Kauffman Fellows became a tuition-based 501(c)(3) post-graduate educational institution.⁠[5]

The Center for Venture Education received IRS tax-exempt status in February 2002; its EIN is 48-1249429.⁠[8]

The SEC announced that its managing executive Patrick von Bargen would leave at the end of February to become CEO of the Center for Venture Education and expand the program at home and abroad.⁠[3]

TrueBridge Capital Partners was founded in 2007 by Mel Williams and Edwin Poston and that year formed a relationship with the program giving Fellows and TrueBridge funds two-way access; its $311 million Fund I closed in 2008.⁠[9]

TrueBridge is a separate firm; it says its assets under management passed $6.5 billion in 2023.⁠[9]

Wickham wrote that the program had grown from a $3.8 million grant in 2002 to 40 countries, with 48 Fellows launching new funds and more than 30 leading startups as CEO.⁠[2]

From 2014 the program became a lifelong experience starting with a two-year course, admitting mainly emerging and established fund managers.⁠[5]

The third run of Brad FeldBrad FeldBrad Feld is a General Partner at Foundry, a co-founder of Techstars, and an author.Open the full entry and Jason Mendelson’s free Venture Deals online course began as part of the Kauffman Fellows Academy.⁠[10]

Ahead of the 20th anniversary, Wickham counted more than 400 Fellows and called the human, intellectual, process and cultural capital beyond money “shadow capital.”⁠[1]

Wickham, CEO since 2008, handed the role to Class 16 Fellow Jeff Harbach in 2016 and chaired the board until 2020.⁠[7]

That year the Kauffman Foundation and Kauffman Fellows launched a scholarship program to address the Midwest funding gap.⁠[11]

The foundation then described Kauffman Fellows as based in Silicon Valley.⁠[11]

Lisa Feria, Thad Langford, Scott Bernstein and Victor Gutwein received the first scholarships under a $960,000 program funding four per year for three years.⁠[12]

Canada’s BDC Capital launched its GP Academy boot camp that May, developed in consultation with Kauffman Fellows.⁠[13]

Registration opened for the Venture Deals course co-produced with Techstars, which had run four times with more than 15,000 completions.⁠[14]

The Kauffman Fellows Research Center analyzed more than 90,000 companies and found the share founded by women rose from 4% in 2001 to 21.6% in 2018.⁠[15]

With MaC Venture Capital, the study used Clarifai models to infer “perceived ethnicity” from 260,000-plus profile photos rather than self-identification.⁠[16]

Teams with diverse founders had a median realized multiple of 3.26x, versus 2.50x for all-White teams.⁠[16]

Black and Latinx executives made up 2.1% and 2.6%; the returns analysis counted only acquired or listed companies.⁠[16]

Class 25 had 61 Fellows, 41% of them women.⁠[17]

During Black History Month the organization profiled 28 Black Fellows in daily X posts and collected them in an article.⁠[18]

The course run with Techstars for about ten years was re-shot and relaunched, with more than 40,000 participants to date.⁠[19]

Class 28 had 60 members from 16 countries, bringing the network to 882 Fellows in 58 countries and 765 firms.⁠[20]

Class 14 Fellow Fernando Fabre succeeded Harbach, CEO for 7.5 years; 536 of 882 Fellows joined during his decade, which also saw Kauffman Fellows Fund I launched.⁠[21]

Through the Kauffman Fellows Fund, Harbach invested in companies including Zoom, Carta and Groww.⁠[22]

Of the Fellows who joined in that decade, 37% were women and 15% came from under-represented backgrounds.⁠[21]

Fabre is a co-founder of Matterscale Ventures and a former president of Endeavor.⁠[23]

The annual summit was held in Montréal in partnership with Canada’s BDC, drawing investors from more than 45 countries.⁠[24]

Earlier summits were held in Kenya, Mexico, the UAE, Japan, Israel, Singapore and Brazil. The organization then had more than 940 Fellows from over 60 countries.⁠[25]

Board member and Charter Class Fellow Karen Kerr spoke to the SEC’s Small Business Capital Formation Advisory Committee on how fellowships can support emerging managers.⁠[26]

In the 30th year, Class 30’s 66 Fellows came from 20 countries, held $102 billion in combined assets, were 76% partner-level or above, and included the most limited partners to date.⁠[27]

For the fiscal year the Center for Venture Education had revenue of $5.58 million, expenses of $6.55 million and year-end assets of $125.7 million; assets had grown from about $49.66 million to about $106.8 million in fiscal 2021.⁠[8]

It published Zero to Four, identifying five traits shared by firms deploying Fund IV and beyond.⁠[28]

Class 31’s 55 Fellows came from 13 countries with $101 billion in combined assets; 38% were women and 15% limited partners.⁠[29]

Of the class, 52% were partner-level or above, and the number of growth-focused investors doubled.⁠[29]

Class 32 applications opened with a final deadline of January 11, 2027 and decisions in March; two-year tuition is $80,000, excluding travel.⁠[30]

The early deadline was November 16, 2026, with a $100 fee, rising to $300 afterward; scholarships are need-based.⁠[30]

The course includes five four-day modules, a global summit, at least two treks and 24 monthly forums; a mentor is required before Module II.⁠[31]

Teaching is 20% workshops, 40% industry lectures and 40% peer learning.⁠[31]

BDC Capital has supported 14 Canadian candidates with partial scholarships.⁠[32]

The network has 1,060 Fellows from 680 firms, 11 regional chapters and 10 special interest groups.⁠[33]

Interest groups cover climate, healthcare, deep tech, limited partners and emerging managers, meeting monthly.⁠[33]

The website says 15% of all unicorns as of March 2024 were funded by Fellows.⁠[34]

The Fund Returners Index ranks 30 Fellows using unicorns and their exit valuations as proxies for private fund returns.⁠[35]

The website lists Fernando Fabre as CEO and nine board members including Karen Kerr, Marlon Nichols and Melissa Richlen; Jason Green was founding chairman.⁠[23]

The website terms name the Center for Venture Education as operator.⁠[36]

The 2023 terms give an address in Austin, Texas, and apply California law.⁠[36]

Kauffman Fellows: Official website: https://www.kauffmanfellows.org/ (opens in a new window)⁠[34]

LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry: Official account: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kauffman-fellows-program/ (opens in a new window)⁠[34]

X: Official account: https://x.com/KauffmanFellows (opens in a new window)⁠[18]

Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation: Official website: https://www.kauffman.org/ (opens in a new window)⁠[11]

TrueBridge Capital Partners: Official website: https://truebridgecapital.com/ (opens in a new window)⁠[9]