First Step Toward Developing Solutions to Increase Inclusiveness
WASHINGTON, DC – The National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), Dow Jones VentureSource and CrunchBase today announced the launch of the 2015 Venture Census to meet the critical challenge of measuring the diversity of the U.S. entrepreneurial ecosystem. Starting today, every individual working in entrepreneurial finance or a startup company can contribute to the 2015 Venture Census by anonymously submitting data about their background. The 2015 Venture Census is part of a broader effort led by the NVCA Diversity Task Force to build solutions to advance greater opportunity for women and underrepresented minorities in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
“Collaboration and research are top priorities of the NVCA Diversity Task Force as we develop solutions that support the advancement of women and underrepresented minorities in the startup ecosystem,” said Ashton Newhall, Managing General Partner of Greenspring Associates, co-chair of the NVCA Diversity Task Force and Research Team. “Today, we are launching the Venture Census in order to assess the level of diversity across startups, venture capital firms, accelerators and others supporting innovation. We believe we need a better understanding of our history and our present before we can affect the future. It is my hope that this data collection effort establishes a baseline which we can improve upon for many years to come.”
“Adding this new census data alongside the vast financial data we gather for VentureSource will help in analyzing the characteristics of successful VCs and entrepreneurs and will guide investors to make better investment decisions,” said Susan Keeler, Global Product Manager, Dow Jones VentureSource.
“We are excited to partner with the NVCA on benchmarking diversity in the startup ecosystem, ” said Matt Kaufman, President of CrunchBase. “We believe making data accessible to the entrepreneurial community accelerates innovation and raising awareness about diversity is an important part of our efforts.”
The 2015 Venture Census is taking on the challenge of understanding the current level of diversity within venture capital, startup companies and organizations that shape the growth of startups. The purpose of the survey is to assess the individual characteristics of persons employed in the startup ecosystem and the characteristics of their firms or companies. Survey question focus on gender, age, sexual orientation, educational and professional background, military experience, firm size, industry, geographic focus and location. All submissions are anonymous and will be reported in aggregate. NVCA will share the results with the public in the fall of 2015.
Participate in the 2015 Venture Census and share your contribution to help #measurediversity on social media.