Student-backed VC funding has historically been concentrated on a few "target" campuses.
We're changing the game.
Traditionally, student and professional venture scouts alike roam on the campuses of Ivy League schools, prestigious technical institutes, and universities with deep alumni ties to the VC community.
These are fine institutions, but they are not the sole bastions of opportunity. Brilliant founders, vibrant entrepreneurial spirit, bold projects, and wonderful companies are shaping the winds of change at universities across the nation — from state schools and the Big Ten to liberal arts colleges and everything in between.
However, structural complexity keeps access to capital restrictive. Investable opportunity, while available across schools, is more thinly distributed at institutions without robust VC presence.
For professional investors, spending time & energy to identify the one or two promising startups at traditionally overlooked schools is risky, so most instead opt to deploy sourcing resources on campuses with greater entrepreneurial density.
For founders, venture funding is often a black box into which visibility is afforded only to those with pedigree, connections, or luck.
For entrepreneurially-minded or finance-interested students, opportunities to learn about venture capital from practitioners — not to mention working with them — can be few and far between.
Olivewood Ventures solves for equitable VC in student-led ventures.
Offering unprecedented and professionally transformative experiences, Olivewood engages student "fellows" to identify the best-and-brightest founders at their schools. Olivewood then works with founders and their correspondent fellow to establish strategic priorities and craft bespoke, institutional-quality materials. Finally, Olivewood selectively connects founders with investor partners, seeking mutually beneficial outcomes with an orientation toward long-term partnership.
Olivewood Ventures is at the forefront of a massive value unlock — empowering "undercover" founders to build the generational companies of the future.
History & Inspiration
Founded in 2021, UndercoverVC introduced the national fellowship model to democratize access to professional venture capital for student founders of all backgrounds. Undercover brought together 75+ student fellows, 20+ student-led startups, and a network of over 15 venture and angel investors facilitating collaboration, professional development, lasting relationships, and the establishment of a diverse community of builders, investors, & innovators.
Emerging as its evolution, Olivewood Ventures amplifies Undercover's mission while seeking to effectuate maximal impact on underserved entrepreneurial ecosystems through emphases on sophisticated capital raising capabilities, exceptional technical prowess, institutional-quality advisory work, broad national campus visibility, and the continuous cultivation of organizational knowledge.