Comparison · 13 material differences
BLCK VC vs Kauffman Fellows
This comparison was generated on request from the records. It carries no editorial verdict and is not indexed. The published comparisons are listed on the compare page.
Read down each column for one organization, across a row for the difference. A bronze mark at the left of a cell means the organizations differ on that row. A dash or “not published” means the organization does not disclose the fact; it is not a zero.
Verified September 2026
Networking organization
Verified September 2026 BLCK VC
Black venture capital investors, plus Black operators and recent graduates seeking to move into investing roles
Leadership network
Kauffman Fellows
Working venture capital investors (typically partner-level GPs, emerging fund founders, LPs and corporate venture investors) who already deploy capital
What the records say
- Role or title: BLCK VC: No published role or title; Kauffman Fellows: Working venture investor: direct VC investor, emerging or established GP, LP, corporate VC or ecosystem contributor.
- Annual dues: BLCK VC: Not publicly disclosed: no membership dues are published; BLCK VC is funded by corporate sponsors and donations; Kauffman Fellows: Not publicly disclosed: the organization does not publish alumni society dues, if any.
Side by side
| BLCK VC | Kauffman Fellows | |
|---|---|---|
| Profile | ||
| Type | Networking organization | Leadership network |
| Founded | 2018 (Founded in 2018 by Sydney Sykes, then at New Enterprise Associates, and Frederik Groce, then at Storm Ventures; both now serve as board co-chairs) | 1995 (Started inside the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation in 1995; spun out as an independent organization in 2000 and run by the Center for Venture Education) |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, United States | Palo Alto, United States |
| Geographic footprint | Eight chapters across North America: Atlanta, Boston, the DMV (Washington DC area), Los Angeles, the Midwest, New York City, San Francisco and Toronto | Fellows in 62 countries across six continents; in-person modules and treks rotate between global locations |
| Members | Not publicly disclosed: BLCK VC does not publish a community or member count on its public pages | 1,060as of September 2026 |
| Chapters | 8 | 11 |
| Primary audience | Black venture capital investors, plus Black operators and recent graduates seeking to move into investing roles | Working venture capital investors (typically partner-level GPs, emerging fund founders, LPs and corporate venture investors) who already deploy capital |
| Typical member | Members are Black investors working in venture capital, alongside participants in the organisation's pipeline programmes: operators training to become angel, scout or venture investors, and candidates preparing for entry-level analyst, associate and senior associate roles. | Recent classes are roughly 86% direct VC investors, 72% partner-level or above and 43% founders. Across the whole society, about 55–60% of Fellows are firm founders, roughly 80% are partner-level or above, and about one in three is female. |
| Qualification | ||
| Role or title | No published role or title | Working venture investor: direct VC investor, emerging or established GP, LP, corporate VC or ecosystem contributorPartner-level or above is preferred but not stated as mandatory; 72% of a recent class were partner-level or higherverified September 2026 · source ↗ |
| Invitation required | No | No |
| Sponsor required | Not documented | Not documented |
| Application process | Applicants complete an online form linked from the Get Involved page and, once accepted, join the community's Slack portal. The three programmes (Black Venture Institute, Breaking into Venture and the Scout Network) have separate intakes. No sponsorship, interview or committee review is described publicly. | Applications run on an annual class cycle. Step one is an online form that the organization estimates takes about an hour, submitted with an application fee. Step two is a set of video interviews with current Fellows. Step three is selection by an admissions committee. For the Class 31 cycle, interviews began in mid-February 2026 and acceptances went out in early April 2026. |
| Selectivity | Not publicly disclosed: no eligibility criteria or acceptance data are published | Not publicly disclosed: Kauffman Fellows publishes detailed class composition data but no acceptance rate or applicant volume |
| Cost | ||
| Annual dues | Not publicly disclosed: no membership dues are published; BLCK VC is funded by corporate sponsors and donationsverified September 2026 · source ↗ | Not publicly disclosed: the organization does not publish alumni society dues, if anyverified September 2026 |
| Programme fee | Not publicly disclosed: no fees are published for the Black Venture Institute, Breaking into Venture or the Scout Networkverified September 2026 | $80,000 one-timeTuition for the full two-year programme, due before Module 1. Covers venues, meals, materials and mentoring; excludes transportation and lodging. Non-refundable and non-transferable. Limited needs-based scholarships are available.verified September 2026 · source ↗ |
| Membership term | Not documented | Two-year programme followed by lifelong membership of the Kauffman Fellows society |
| Structure | ||
| Meeting frequency | Chapter events run by volunteer leads in eight cities and regions, plus programme cohorts and community activity on Slack | Five four-day in-person modules, one Global Summit and two Global Treks over two years, plus roughly 24 virtual forum meetings; Special Interest Groups meet monthly for alumni |
| Peer forums | Slack-based member portal plus city and regional chapters; cohort-based programmes run separately | Class members meet in virtual Forum groups roughly twice a month during the programme; alumni join topic-based Special Interest Groups and regional chapters |
| Confidentiality | Could not be independently verified: no published confidentiality policy was found | Could not be independently verified: no published confidentiality policy was found |
| Time commitment | Not documented | Approximately 20–25 days over the two-year programme, per the application details page |
| Organized as | Chapter-based, Virtual, Cohort-based, Event-focused | Cohort-based, Event-focused, Virtual |
| Confidential peer forums | Partial | Yes |
| Local chapters | Yes | Yes |
| Virtual membership | Yes | No |
| Online community | Yes | Yes |
| Member directory | Not documented | Yes |
| Events | Yes | Yes |
| Programming | ||
| Educational programming | Yes | Yes |
| Leadership development | Yes | Yes |
| Retreats | No | Yes |
| Travel | No | Yes |
| Family programming | No | Not documented |
| Spouse and partner programming | No | Not documented |
| Next-generation programming | Yes | No |
| Investment discussions | Yes | Yes |
| Investment opportunities | Partial | Partial |
| Philanthropic component | No | Not documented |
| Networking emphasis | High | High |
| Social emphasis | Medium | Medium |
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Sources
Drawn from the sources listed on each page: BLCK VC · Kauffman Fellows