Comparison · 18 material differences
Invest Europe 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
Professional association
Verified September 2026 Invest Europe
European private equity, venture capital and infrastructure fund managers and the institutional investors who back them
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: Invest Europe: No published role or title; Kauffman Fellows: Working venture investor: direct VC investor, emerging or established GP, LP, corporate VC or ecosystem contributor.
- Geographic restriction: Invest Europe: Full members must be located in Europe; Kauffman Fellows: No published geographic restriction.
- Annual dues: Invest Europe: Not publicly disclosed: neither the membership page nor the become-a-member page publishes a subscription rate; enquiries are directed to the Head of Membership & Sponsorship; Kauffman Fellows: Not publicly disclosed: the organization does not publish alumni society dues, if any.
Side by side
| Invest Europe | Kauffman Fellows | |
|---|---|---|
| Profile | ||
| Type | Professional association | Leadership network |
| Founded | 1983 (Founded in 1983 as the European Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (EVCA); renamed Invest Europe in 2015) | 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 | Brussels, Belgium | Palo Alto, United States |
| Geographic footprint | Members based in 57 countries, 42 of them in Europe; offices in Brussels and London | Fellows in 62 countries across six continents; in-person modules and treks rotate between global locations |
| Members | 650as of September 2026 | 1,060as of September 2026 |
| Chapters | Not applicable: Invest Europe has no chapters; it organises members into four platforms | 11 |
| Primary audience | European private equity, venture capital and infrastructure fund managers and the institutional investors who back them | Working venture capital investors (typically partner-level GPs, emerging fund founders, LPs and corporate venture investors) who already deploy capital |
| Typical member | Full members are private equity, venture capital and infrastructure firms and the investors in those funds, including large European pension funds and insurers, funds of funds, secondaries funds and banks. Associate members are advisers and service providers: law firms, consultants, financial advisers, academic institutions and NGOs. Honorary membership is reserved for national private equity associations. | 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 ↗ |
| Geographic restriction | Full members must be located in Europeverified September 2026 · source ↗ | No published geographic restriction |
| Invitation required | No | No |
| Sponsor required | Sometimes | Not documented |
| Application process | Prospective members first check the member search tool to see whether their firm already holds membership, then apply through the become-a-member page or contact the Head of Membership & Sponsorship directly. Applications are assessed against the platform criteria and the Professional Standards Handbook code of conduct. Honorary applicants (national associations) must supply references from two current full members and are considered case by case. | 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: Invest Europe publishes eligibility criteria but no acceptance data | Not publicly disclosed: Kauffman Fellows publishes detailed class composition data but no acceptance rate or applicant volume |
| Cost | ||
| Annual dues | Not publicly disclosed: neither the membership page nor the become-a-member page publishes a subscription rate; enquiries are directed to the Head of Membership & Sponsorshipverified September 2026 · source ↗ | Not publicly disclosed: the organization does not publish alumni society dues, if anyverified September 2026 |
| Initiation fee | Not publicly disclosedverified September 2026 | Tuition is the material cost; travel and lodging for five modules, a summit and two treks are additional and not quantified by the organization. |
| Programme fee | Not publicly disclosed. Invest Europe publishes no fee schedule for any membership category. | $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 | Annual | Two-year programme followed by lifelong membership of the Kauffman Fellows society |
| Structure | ||
| Meeting frequency | A year-round conference and training calendar including the Venture Capital Forum and the Investors' Forum | 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 | No peer-forum structure; members organise through four membership platforms and their councils | 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 beyond the Professional Standards Handbook | 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 | Event-focused | Cohort-based, Event-focused, Virtual |
| Confidential peer forums | No | Yes |
| Local chapters | No | Yes |
| Virtual membership | No | No |
| Online community | Partial | Yes |
| Member directory | Yes | Yes |
| Events | Yes | Yes |
| Programming | ||
| Educational programming | Yes | Yes |
| Leadership development | Partial | Yes |
| Retreats | No | Yes |
| Travel | No | Yes |
| Family programming | No | Not documented |
| Spouse and partner programming | No | Not documented |
| Next-generation programming | No | No |
| Investment discussions | Partial | Yes |
| Investment opportunities | No | Partial |
| Philanthropic component | No | Not documented |
| Networking emphasis | Medium | High |
| Social emphasis | Low | Medium |
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Sources
Drawn from the sources listed on each page: Invest Europe · Kauffman Fellows