Social Venture Network

What Social Venture Network does

Social Venture Network (SVN) is a 37-year-old, member-led 501(c)(3) nonprofit community organization that connects social entrepreneurs, impact investors, and sustainability-focused business leaders. Founded in 1987, SVN's core function is to provide peer support, networking, and governance participation for mission-driven founders and capital allocators committed to building a just and sustainable economy. Its member-facing offerings consist of the Peer Circles Program (curated small groups of 5-7 members meeting monthly for confidential discussion), monthly Member Meetings (virtual gatherings), a public Member Directory hosted at directory.svn.org, the SVN Member Scholarship Fund, a monthly newsletter, and an annual Global Gathering conference.

SVN's technology footprint is intentionally thin: the organization operates on standard off-the-shelf community tooling, including Squarespace for its website (svn.org), Keela for membership application and payment processing, Zoom for virtual meetings, and an email newsletter platform. There is no proprietary software product, and no AI/ML capability is disclosed. Members and event attendees engage primarily through human-led facilitation rather than technology-mediated experiences.

The business model is a recurring subscription on the membership side, with annual dues of $1,200 for standard membership and $900 for Investors Circle partner members, supplemented by donations and the Member Scholarship Fund. Distribution is predominantly community-led: peer referrals, member testimonials, the annual RISE un-conference, and the reciprocal Investors Circle partnership drive acquisition. Governance is democratic, with the first member-elected 11-person Board of Directors seated in April 2025 spanning 3 countries and 2 continents. Following a period of organizational turbulence that culminated in separation from ASBN and a reversion to the original SVN name in August 2024, the organization reports that membership tripled in the months after the June 2024 RISE un-conference in Oakland.

Name

Social Venture Network

Legal name

Social Venture Network

Website

https://svn.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1987

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Social Venture Network is a 37-year-old member-led 501(c)(3) nonprofit community that connects social entrepreneurs, impact investors, and sustainability leaders through Peer Circles, monthly meetings, an annual gathering, and a member directory, funded by $1,200 annual membership dues and donations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Membership-based Impact Network

NAICS

Civic and Social Organizations (8134)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

General-Purpose Social Networks (BPAMABAA)

Keywords

• Impact investing network
• Social entrepreneur community
• Membership-based network
• Sustainable business community
• Peer circles program

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Annual Membership Dues: SVN generates revenue primarily through annual membership fees. Standard annual membership is $1,200, with discounted partnership rates of $900 available through the Investors Circle partnership. Members receive access to Peer Circles, member meetings, exclusive events, conference discounts, and voting rights.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Social Venture Network operates a membership-based community connecting business leaders, social entrepreneurs, and impact investors committed to building a just and sustainable economy. Members pay annual dues to access Peer Circles (small confidential peer groups of 5-7 members meeting monthly), monthly virtual Member Meetings, an online Member Directory, and the annual SVN Global Gathering. The organization also runs the SVN Member Scholarship Fund, accepts general donations, and publishes community reports such as the RISE Report.

Product overview

Social Venture Network is a membership-based community organization, not a traditional product company. Its core offerings consist of programs and services that support a network of entrepreneurs, investors, and social innovators committed to building a just and sustainable economy. The primary offerings include the Peer Circles Program (which matches members into small peer groups for mutual support), Member Meetings (monthly virtual gatherings), the SVN Member Directory (an online directory for member-to-member connection), and the SVN Newsletter. Additional offerings include the SVN Member Scholarship Fund and General Donations for financial support, SVN Global Gathering for annual in-person convenings, and publications like the RISE Report documenting community events.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Annual Membership Annual membership in the Social Venture Network community priced at USD 1,200 per year standard, or USD 900 per year through the Investors Circle partnership rate (a 25 percent discount). Members receive access to Peer Circles, Member Meetings, the Member Directory, conference discounts, voting rights, and partner organization discounts.
• Peer Circles Program SVN's flagship member benefit that matches values-aligned entrepreneurs, consultants, and social venture pioneers into small pods of 5 to 7 peers for monthly confidential discussions on sensitive topics, mutual support, problem-solving, and accountability.
• Member Meetings Monthly virtual gatherings for SVN members featuring organizational updates, networking, and community connection.
• SVN Member Directory An online public directory of SVN members that enables community members to find, contact, and do business with fellow mission-driven entrepreneurs.
• SVN Newsletter Regular newsletter communications sent to subscribers featuring member updates, event announcements, community news, and member achievements.
• SVN Global Gathering Annual in-person conference bringing together SVN members for deep reflection, collaboration, and strategic visioning.

Quantifiable outcome

• Community membership tripled since June 2024 RISE un-conference
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Investors CirclecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025SVN maintains a strategic partnership with Investors Circle, offering reciprocal discounted membership rates. IC members can join SVN at 25% off ($900 instead of $1,200), while SVN members receive preferred rates on IC Associate Membership ($800 instead of $1,800). Both organizations collaborate on events and programming, with IC hosting monthly meetings that SVN members can attend.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Investors Circle: Investors Circle is a nonprofit impact-investing angel network for early-stage social entrepreneurs, sharing SVN's mission-driven membership model. SVN has an active strategic partnership with Investors Circle offering reciprocal discounted membership rates, making them a directly comparable peer in the social-venture networking space.
• Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE): BALLE is a nonprofit network of local business leaders building equitable local economies, created by SVN members. It shares SVN's model of values-aligned business community organizing and convening.
• American Sustainable Business Network (ASBN): ASBN is a coalition of sustainable business advocates. SVN previously operated under ASBN's umbrella and separated in 2024, making them a directly comparable peer with overlapping mission in business sustainability advocacy.
• SOCAP (Social Capital Markets): SOCAP is a network convening impact investors, entrepreneurs, and funders at its annual conference and through curated programming. It directly competes with SVN in convening the impact-investing and social-venture community, but at a larger scale and with a conference-driven model.
• Conscious Capitalism: Conscious Capitalism is a movement and membership organization promoting values-driven business leadership. It shares SVN's focus on connecting business leaders committed to a higher purpose, with overlapping membership and similar peer-learning programming.
• Impact Hub: Impact Hub is a global network of impact-focused coworking and innovation spaces supporting entrepreneurs. It shares SVN's mission of connecting changemakers and social entrepreneurs, though it operates via physical community spaces rather than a peer-circle model.

Broad incumbents

• B Lab: B Lab is the nonprofit certifying B Corporations globally. SVN members influenced B Lab's creation, and the two share a values-aligned business ecosystem, though B Lab operates at significantly larger scale as a standards and certification body.
• Business for Social Responsibility (BSR): BSR is a global nonprofit consultancy working with businesses on sustainability, influenced in its founding by SVN members. It serves a similar values-aligned business audience but at far greater scale as a sustainable business advisory network.
• Net Impact: Net Impact is a large nonprofit membership organization mobilizing professionals to use their careers to drive social and environmental change. It serves a similar audience of impact-oriented professionals and offers comparable programs like conferences and student/leader chapters.

Emerging players

• Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE): ANDE is a global network of organizations supporting small and growing businesses in emerging markets. While focused on a different geography (developing markets) and segment, it shares SVN's member-network structure for advancing entrepreneurship as a development tool.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/SVNetwork
• Facebookfacebook.com/SocialVentureNetwork
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/social-venture-network

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments1 record

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

Frequently asked questions about Social Venture Network