For 24 years, Kauffman Fellows has continued to raise the bar in bringing together the most innovative minds in venture capital. Today we are excited to introduce you to Class 24, the next generation of Kauffman Fellows, who continue to push the program forward to new levels of excellence.   

Representing a wide array of sectors, stages of investments, and geographies, Class 24 gathered at 1440 Multiversity in Scotts Valley, California to begin their two-year journey. To be selected, participants must demonstrate a unique combination of both technical ability and shared core values. 

In keeping with the trends of our latest classes, ~70% are senior investors who are Managing Partners, General Partners, or Founders of their firms and have an average of ~5 years full-time investing experience.

Since launching in 1995, Kauffman Fellows has grown to 653 Fellows with an extended community of Mentors and Faculty, encompassing a network of over 1200 investment professionals. The Program has long been a leader in cultivating a diverse pipeline of talent. Proudly, Class 24 includes 36% women, and 50% people of color. In addition, this year’s class welcomes Fellows from over 21 countries including: Bahrain, Morocco, and Pakistan. This year’s class includes: 

• Former United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Human Resources
• Founder of Pakistan’s leading venture capital firm
• Co-Founder of an investment firm that invests exclusively in blockchain and cryptocurrency
• A Forbes venture capital 30 under 30 award winner
• First Fellow attempting to break the 4-minute mile barrier

The Kauffman Fellows Program continues to produce outstanding investment and innovation leaders with the support of some of the industry’s strongest leaders and most respected firms. Firms represented in the incoming class include Silicon Valley Bank, Emergence Capital, BECO Capital, Intel Capital, CapitalG, SOSV, Sofinnova, Boeing HorizonX, Cambridge Associates, and Madrona Venture Group, among others. In addition to having a record-breaking number of Alumni Fellows serving as mentors, we have a number of distinguished individuals serving as mentors to this year’s class: Marc Benioff, Chairman and Co-CEO at Salesforce; Andrea Auerbach, Cambridge Associates; Alex Crisses, Managing Partner at General Atlantic; Jessica Verilli, GV; Fabrice Grinda, and Founding Partner at FJ Labs; Chris Fralic, Partner at First Round Capital. 

To conclude, we are absolutely thrilled to introduce you to the outstanding Fellows of Class 24. We are very excited by the impact this group of talented individuals will continue to have on founders and society at large. 

Class 24 Fellows: