Venture for America

Venture For America, Inc.
Founded 2011
Founder Andrew Yang (entrepreneur)
Type Nonprofit organization
Focus Revitalize America through entrepreneurship
Location
Members
over 700
Employees
over 30
Website http://www.ventureforamerica.org

Venture for America (VFA) is an American nonprofit organization and fellowship headquartered in New York City. Its mission is "to revitalize American cities and communities through entrepreneurship" by training recent graduates and young professionals to work for startups in emerging cities throughout the United States.[1] VFA was founded by Andrew Yang in 2011.

History

In its first year (2012), Venture for America placed 40 fellows in 5 cities: Cincinnati, Detroit, Las Vegas, New Orleans, and Providence.[2] In the following year (2013), the cities of Baltimore, Cleveland, and Philadelphia were added and nearly 70 fellows were placed.[3] In its third year, over 100 fellows were placed and an additional 4 cities of Columbus, Miami, San Antonio, and St. Louis were added.[4] In 2015, the organization grew with the additional cities of Birmingham, Charlotte, Denver, and Pittsburgh, and more than 120 fellows placed. 2016 saw the addition of Atlanta and Nashville along with nearly 170 Fellows placed. In 2017 VFA expanded to Kansas City and placed approximately 180 Fellows. A documentary, 'Generation Startup' co-directed by Cynthia Wade following 6 Venture for America Fellows was released in 2016.

Approach

Venture for America recruits recent college graduates to work in various startup industries, or the related industry of venture funding, for two years in economically challenged cities throughout the US.[2] The goal of the program is for its Fellows to create jobs by eventually serving a senior role at their initial companies and hiring new employees, or by starting their own companies, which will then hire people.[5]

Venture for America accepts about 9% of applicants. After acceptance into the program, all Fellows attend a five-week summer training program in Detroit, Michigan. There, the Fellows are taught and mentored by investors, venture capitalists, and innovation firms in the skills they will need at their companies.[6] The skills they learn include topics of web design, entrepreneurship, and public speaking.[7]

Fellows are then placed in startups in cities like Baltimore, Detroit, and San Antonio in industries such as education innovation, biotechnology, VC firms, media, and clean technology.[7][8] Since 2012, Venture for America has trained over 700 fellows who have worked in 18 cities.[9]

References

  1. ↑ "From Passion to Profit". abcnews.go.com. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Venture training helps entrepreneurs succeed". news.brown.edu. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  3. ↑ "Venture for America to Send 100 Top College Graduates over next Five Years to Support Detroit and Cleveland Startups". steamfeed.com. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
  4. ↑ "Venture for America launching in Miami". miamiherald.typepad.com. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
  5. ↑ "The 'Teach for America' for Entrepreneurs?". inc.com. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  6. ↑ "Venture for America: Entrepreneurial Fellowships for College Grads, with CEO Andrew Yang". bigthink.com. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  7. 1 2 "No Six-Figure Pay, but Making a Difference". nytimes.com. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  8. ↑ "Venture For America Will Do For Entrepreneurship What Teach For America Does For Education". fastcompany.com. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  9. ↑ "Venture for America Our Impact - Venture for America".
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