Virtual Enterprises International

Name

Virtual Enterprises International

Legal name

Virtual Enterprises International, Inc.

Website

https://veinternational.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Career and Technical Education (Work-Based Learning / Business Simulation)

NAICS

Elementary and Secondary Schools (6111)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

District-Run Virtual Academies & Online Programs (EDAJADAB)

Keywords

• Work-based learning
• Career technical education
• Business simulation programs
• Youth entrepreneurship education
• College career readiness

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Corporate and Foundation Grants: Major gifts and grants from foundations and corporate partners fund program operations; examples include NYLF $1M grant (2012), HSBC $1M grant (2021), NY Life Foundation $750K (2022), and Community Financial System $75,000 (2026).
2. Event Sponsorships: Sponsorship of flagship events such as the Youth Business Summit (HSBC as presenting sponsor; Osaic, Intuit, Mastercard, Deloitte, NY Life Foundation, SIFMA Foundation, NJIT, Long Island University, Atlantic Tomorrow's Office, Cross River as partners).
3. Individual and Corporate Donations: Donations solicited via the website donate page, fundraising gala, and peer-to-peer events such as Padel for a Purpose.
4. School Program Implementation Fees: VE partners with schools and districts to deliver programs; schools register and implement VE curricula across U.S. middle and high schools.

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Virtual Enterprises International (VEI) operates a school-based business simulation program in which middle and high school students create and run virtual firms with functional departments (business, HR, marketing, finance), transacting in a simulated "VE dollar" economy on the VE Hub online platform. The portfolio includes the high school VE Program, the middle school VE-JV Career Academy, a national competition pathway that culminates annually in the Youth Business Summit in New York City, and supporting events such as the National Teachers Conference, Winning Women Leadership Conference, and Annual Gala.

Product overview

Virtual Enterprises International (VEI) operates a unified educational platform centered on its core high-school VE Program, in which student teams run simulated firms with full business functions. The architecture is a core-program-plus-modules design: the VE Program anchors the offering and is supplemented by the VE-JV Career Academy (middle-school module), the online VE Hub (community platform), and a portfolio of national competitions (Business Plan, Finance, Marketing, HR, AI Challenge, Global Innovation Challenge, Booth Design, Sales Pitch, Financial Literacy Challenge, and online categories such as Elevator Pitch, Branding, E-Commerce Website, Video Commercial, and Newsletter). The annual Youth Business Summit (YBS) is the culminating showcase, while the Winning Women Leadership Conference, the National Teachers Conference (NTC), and the Annual Gala serve as ongoing professional learning and community events. Supporting products include the U.S. Firm Directory, the VE Top 50 recognition program, the Ad Futures Competition, and the VE Alumni Community.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• VE-JV (VE-Junior Ventures): VEI's middle school Career Academy program launched as a more recent addition to provide career-focused courses and hands-on business experiences to middle school students.
• VE Winning Women

Products and services

• VE Program (Virtual Enterprises High School Program) Core in-school, project-based business simulation program for high school students in which student teams create and operate virtual firms with functional departments (business, HR, marketing, finance). The program serves 27,000+ students across 500+ middle and high schools nationally.
• VE-JV Career Academy (VE-Junior Ventures) Middle school career academy that extends the VE model down to grades below high school, providing career-focused courses and hands-on business experiences for middle school students.
• VE Hub Online member portal that hosts resources for participating schools, students, teachers, and partners and supports the practice-firm model, including simulated "VE dollar" transactions.
• Youth Business Summit (YBS) Annual culminating competition and trade show held in New York City; includes National Business Plan, Finance, HR, Marketing, Global Innovation Challenge, Booth Design, Sales Pitch, AI Challenge, Financial Literacy Challenge, and other national competitions. The 2024 YBS transacted $33,000,000 in simulated VE dollars.
• National Teachers Conference (NTC) Annual multi-day professional development conference for VE and VE-JV educators from across the nation.
• Winning Women Leadership Conference Recurring leadership conference pairing VE students with high-level women mentors from sponsoring companies; focused on leadership development, mentoring, and career readiness for female-identifying VE students.
• National Competition Program Full portfolio of national-level competitions for student VE firms, including Business Plan, Finance, Marketing, HR, Booth Design, Sales Pitch, Global Innovation Challenge, Financial Literacy Challenge (sponsored by Osaic with support from Cross River), Rapid Prototyping Challenge, Elevator Pitch, Company Branding, E-Commerce Website, Video Commercial, Newsletter, and the 2026 AI Challenge.
• Remote Leadership Conference Inaugural remote/virtual leadership conference held online in December 2024, gathering nearly 300 students from across the country.

Quantifiable outcome

• 350,000+ young people served since 1996
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature3 records

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• DECA (formerly Distributive Education Clubs of America): DECA is a student organization that prepares high school and college students for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality, and management through classroom integration and competitive events. It overlaps with VEI's target customers (U.S. high schools), competition format (national business/marketing/finance competitions), and CTE positioning.
• Knowledge Matters: Knowledge Matters builds business simulation software (Virtual Business, Personal Finance, Sports & Entertainment) used by U.S. high schools to teach entrepreneurship, finance, and marketing. It is a direct competitor to VEI's simulation core, but offers a tech-forward SaaS model with student progress analytics and LMS integrations.
• Junior Achievement USA: Junior Achievement USA is the closest direct peer — a nonprofit that delivers work-readiness, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy programs to K-12 students through school and district partnerships, with a national footprint, corporate sponsor ecosystem, and student competitions that mirror VEI's model. Both organizations sell to school districts and compete for the same corporate foundation grants (HSBC, NY Life, Intuit, Deloitte all fund JA).
• NAF (National Academy Foundation): NAF operates academy-themed CTE academies (finance, hospitality, IT, health sciences) inside U.S. high schools, with teacher training, curriculum, and industry advisory boards — a model that intersects VEI's finance/business pathway. NAF is a comparable peer because it sells academies into school districts, secures corporate sponsorship (JPMorgan historically), and targets career-readiness outcomes.
• SkillsUSA: SkillsUSA is a nonprofit that serves middle school, high school, and college students preparing for careers in trade, technical, and skilled service occupations, with national leadership and skills competitions. While VEI focuses specifically on business/entrepreneurship and SkillsUSA spans the full CTE spectrum, both compete for the same CTE coordinator time and school-district CTE budget.
• Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE): NFTE is a nonprofit that teaches entrepreneurship to middle and high school students from under-resourced communities, with classroom curricula, teacher training, and student business plan competitions. NFTE operates in similar school channels as VEI and serves a comparable student demographic, making it a directly comparable peer for grant funding, district adoption, and competition participation.
• FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America) / FBLA-PBL: FBLA is the largest student business organization in the U.S., with middle school, high school, and collegiate divisions that compete in business, marketing, finance, and entrepreneurship events at regional and national levels. FBLA competes with VEI for the same CTE teacher mindshare, district adoption, and corporate sponsorship dollars.

Emerging players

• EVERFI: EVERFI is an edtech company (now part of Intellek, formerly Blackbaud's education arm) that provides digital courses in financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and career readiness to K-12 schools at no cost, funded by corporate sponsors. It competes with VEI for corporate partner sponsorship dollars and for school-district adoption slots in financial-literacy and career-readiness curricula.
• BizWorld Foundation: BizWorld Foundation delivers project-based entrepreneurship programs for elementary and middle school students, including student-run business simulations. It overlaps with VEI-JV in the middle-school segment and competes for the same district-level adoption and corporate sponsorship pipeline.
• Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA): YEA is a nonprofit (founded by Deborah Sternberg, a current VEI advisory board member) that runs student business plan competitions and after-school entrepreneurship programs for middle and high school students. YEA is a smaller-scale peer in the same student-entrepreneurship category, with a comparable grant-funded nonprofit structure.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks1 record

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/veinternational
• Facebookfacebook.com/VEInternational
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/virtual-enterprises-international-inc-
• Instagraminstagram.com/veinternational

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Virtual Enterprises International