Kauffman Fellows
New York, US · 2 known investors
Find your way into Kauffman Fellows
108 people in our graph share verified history with the Kauffman Fellows team — schools, employers, funds. One of them is your warm intro.
Kauffman Fellows is an education and community platform for venture capitalists, offering a two-year leadership program with personalized learning experiences, networking opportunities, and professional development resources. The organization serves early-stage and growth-stage venture capital investors who are building the future of the industry.
Also known as Kauffman Fellows Program · KF
Founders & leadership
Investors · 2
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Kauffman Fellows is a learning community and education program for venture capital professionals. Its core offering is a two-year program built around self-reflection, peer learning and a structured curriculum, intended to accelerate participants' progress in venture capital careers. The program is organized into three tracks: becoming a better leader (self-awareness, pattern recognition, reputation building), becoming a better investor (sourcing, picking, supporting and exiting investments, fiduciary duties, ethics and stakeholder alignment), and building a better firm (investment thesis and strategy, portfolio construction, platform support for portfolio companies, partnership dynamics and firm structure).
Beyond the curriculum, the organization positions its alumni network as a central benefit. Fellows remain connected after graduating through global events, sector-specific groups, regional chapters, and WhatsApp and Slack groups. Classes are numbered sequentially (for example KF 8, KF 11, KF 21, KF 25, KF 26, with KF 31 the class being recruited), and the network includes investors at firms such as Bessemer Venture Partners, Lux Capital, Kleiner Perkins, Ulu Ventures, Creandum, Everywhere Ventures, MaC Venture Capital, ACV Capital, Sozo Ventures and Cake Ventures. Kauffman Fellows also publishes research on the venture industry, including "Zero to Four," a study of how VC firms evolve from emerging to established to franchise status based on firms deploying from Fund IV and beyond, and a "Fund Returner" research strand.
Business model
Kauffman Fellows recruits venture capital professionals into a cohort-based Fellowship via an application process, delivers a two-year education program, and maintains an ongoing alumni network with events, chapters and online communities. It also produces research on venture firm performance and evolution.
Traction
The organization reports 1,060 Fellows globally across 680 VC firms and 62 countries, with 80% at partner level or above, 60% firm founders and one third female; it states Fellows funded 15% of all unicorns as of March 2024 and that Fellow-exited companies total $329 billion in value.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Positions itself as a long-standing venture capital education and network organization, operating since 1995, with alumni holding partner-level and firm-founder roles across hundreds of VC firms.
Combines a structured two-year VC curriculum with a lifelong alumni network, an explicit focus on increasing diversity of voices in venture capital, and proprietary research on how VC firms evolve into franchises.
Technology
Community infrastructure includes a members directory and the KF Connect login-only platform, plus WhatsApp and Slack groups for Fellows.
Go-to-market
Applicants apply directly to the Fellowship program through the organization's website; recruiting emphasizes selectivity, diversity and purpose-driven candidates, supported by alumni testimonials and press coverage.
Venture capital professionals rising in their careers, including general partners, limited partners, firm founders and other ecosystem participants; the network spans GPs, LPs and what the organization calls ecosystem shapers.
Geography
Global, with Fellows in 62 countries and regional chapters plus global events connecting the network.
History
The organization states it has been accelerating the growth of leaders in the venture industry since 1995; classes are numbered sequentially, with KF 31 the cohort currently being recruited.
Risks & controversies
Press coverage from TechCrunch and Protocol frames the program in the context of persistent diversity shortfalls in the venture capital industry and debate over whether training schemes can address them.
Compiled by commissioned research from 1 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Founder mafia
The Kauffman Fellows mafia →12 people who came through Kauffman Fellows went on to found or lead other companies.
In the news
▸Research sources · 1
primary sources listed
- Kauffman Fellowskauffmanfellows.org · web
1 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Kauffman Fellows do?
- Kauffman Fellows runs a two-year education program and lifelong network for venture capital investors worldwide.
- Who are Kauffman Fellows's investors?
- Kauffman Fellows's investors include Arkangeles, Metavallon VC.
- Where is Kauffman Fellows headquartered?
- Kauffman Fellows is headquartered in New York, US.