VC University ONLINE: June 2021 Cohort Begins Today!

Launched in 2019, VC University ONLINE is an educational certificate course, jointly operated by NVCA, Venture Forward, and Startup@BerkeleyLaw. 

VC University ONLINE participants learn the nuts and bolts of venture finance through self-paced lectures, interactive assessments, virtual office hours, monthly webinars with faculty and industry experts, and interviews with leading venture capitalists.  Serving more than 200 participants, the June cohort will mark our seventh sold–out course.  

One of VC University’s goals is to democratize access to quality VC education. Since the program’s inception, Venture Forward and Startup@BerkleyLaw have reserved at least 10% of seats for full scholarship recipients, awarded to aspiring and early-career investors, from historically underrepresented and underestimated backgrounds. 

Thanks to the generous financial support of several VC firms committed to creating a more diverse and equitable VC ecosystem, we’ve been able to expand the number of full scholarships we can offer: of the 200+ participants in the June 2021 cohort, we awarded 43 full scholarships to talented, early-career VCs!

We’ve also been able to expand the scholarship itself: in addition to covering the cost of VC University tuition, the full scholarship now also includes a highly-rated 3-month mentorship component. New to the June cohort is our Life Science Scholarship track, which offers focused resources and support to our scholarship recipients who are pursuing careers in life science investing.

We receive hundreds of scholarship applications for each cohort, leading to a rigorous and competitive selection process. In keeping with the scholarship’s goal of supporting underrepresented, aspiring VCs, we consider demographic factors, such as race, gender, ethnicity, veteran status, geography, and more.

Special thanks to our Scholarship Sponsors:

• Foresite Capital
• Longitude Capital
• Omega Funds
• Sofinnova Investments

We also ask several short questions to get a better understanding of each candidate, their goals,  and how they hope to use the VC University experience to propel their professional advancement.

With our newest  cohort starting today, we are highlighting the 43 outstanding early-career VCs who were selected for full scholarships. These recipients represent  a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences. At a glance:  

• 89% – identify as people of color 
• 63% – identify as women 
• 9% – identify as LGBT 
• 75% live outside of the traditional VC hubs of California, Massachusetts, and New York 

We’re thrilled that these talented future VCs are participating in VC University, and we can’t wait to see the ways they’ll move the venture industry forward.

Get to know our scholarship recipients:

Get involved!

Take the Course: VC University ONLINE runs three times a year, and our next  cohort will start September 1, 2021. You can learn more and sign up for notifications, here.

Apply for a Scholarship: Scholarship applications for the September cohort of VC University ONLINE will open on June 7, 2021. You can learn more and sign up for notifications, here.  

Sponsor a Scholarship: If you or your firm are interested in helping us provide more scholarships to aspiring VCs from historically underrepresented backgrounds, please contact Maryam Haque at maryam@ventureforward.org to discuss the opportunities. 

Serve as a Mentor: If you’re a VC, interested in supporting our scholarship recipients as a mentor, you can contact Rhianon Anderson at rhianon@ventureforward.org for more information.