VC University ONLINE, a highly-reviewed certificate program led by Venture Forward, NVCA, and Startup@BerkeleyLaw, democratizes access to quality education on venture capital. Participants learn the nuts and bolts of venture finance through self-paced lectures, interactive assessments, virtual office hours, webinars with faculty and industry experts, and interviews with leading venture capitalists.
Launching today, the September 2021 cohort will serve 200+ participants. This marks the 8th sold-out program, which has now served more than 1,400+ participants and awarded 222 full scholarships.
With the generous support of scholarship sponsors Assure, Foresite Capital, Longitude Capital, Omega Funds, and Sofinnova Investments, Venture Forward is proud to award a limited number of full scholarships to qualified candidates. The scholarship program supports the professional development of new and aspiring VCs from historically underrepresented backgrounds, through educational opportunity, mentorship, and more. The program also features a Life Science Scholarship (LSS) track—launched in June 2021 with the support of four life science VC firms—which offers additional sector-specific content, resources, and support for those pursuing careers as life science investors.
Venture Forward receives hundreds of scholarship applications for each cohort, which are then evaluated through a rigorous and competitive selection process. We consider each candidate’s career goals, how the course will propel their professional advancement, demographic factors, such as race, gender, ethnicity, veteran status, and geography, and more.
Through this process, 45 outstanding candidates from a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences have been selected to receive full scholarships to the upcoming cohort, including full course tuition, supplemental office hours, and access to a dedicated 3-month mentorship program.
September 2021 VC University ONLINE Scholarship Cohort at-a-glance:
- 82% people of color
- 56% female
- 60% based outside CA, MA, NY
- 9% LGBT
- 19 individuals participating in the Life Science Scholarship track
Please join us in welcoming this talented group of new and aspiring investors to VC University ONLINE
Many thanks to our scholarship sponsors for their generous financial support and leadership! 
Serve as an experienced VC or peer VC mentor for the Scholarship cohort: Submit your information here.
Be part of the next cohort: Get notified when the scholarship application window and general registration open for the next cohort starting February 1, 2022.
Sponsor scholarships: Contact Maryam Haque at maryam@ventureforward.org to learn more about sponsorship opportunities.
