National Association of Seed and Venture Funds

What National Association of Seed and Venture Funds does

The National Association of Seed and Venture Funds (NASVF) was a U.S. membership organization that educated and connected seed and venture capital practitioners, particularly angel investors, state economic development programs, and entrepreneurs seeking to raise early-stage capital. Founded informally in 1993 and incorporated in 1997, the organization was managed by Development Capital Networks (DCN) from 1997 until DCN transferred responsibility to the NASVF Board of Directors in 2009.

NASVF's core products were educational in nature rather than technological. Its offerings included two field seminars — Seed Investment as a Team Sport (SITS) aimed at angel investors and Swing for the Fences aimed at entrepreneurs and tech transfer officials — delivered in over 70 cities and 32 states. The organization also published research such as the Chart of State Venture Funds (2008), the Report on State Venture Capital Programs (2006), and an NGA 2000 report on state experiences with seed and venture capital. Its Innovation Finance Reference Guide was adopted as the primary curriculum for the Council of Development Finance Agencies' seed and venture capital finance course, making it a de facto educational standard in public-sector innovation finance. Annual conferences convened practitioners in cities across the country from 1997 to 2008.

The business model combined recurring membership dues (from over 200 organizational members and 700+ individuals) with revenue from conference and seminar registrations. Go-to-market was community-led: NASVF grew through field seminars, annual conferences, and distribution of research to members and policymakers. The organization is no longer an active membership body; it now functions solely as a static informational resource for policy makers on historical models, with the website copyright held by Development Capital Networks.

Name

National Association of Seed and Venture Funds

Legal name

National Association of Seed and Venture Funds

Website

https://nasvf.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Closed

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Philadelphia

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: NASVF operated as a membership organization with over 200 organizational members and 700+ individuals paying membership dues. The organization also generated revenue through conference and seminar registrations.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

NASVF was a membership organization that delivered educational seminars (Seed Investing as a Team Sport for angel investors and Swing for the Fences for entrepreneurs), published the Innovation Finance Reference Guide curriculum, convened annual conferences and venture symposiums, and produced research reports on state venture capital programs. Its fundamental activity was training and connecting seed and venture capital practitioners across the United States.

Product overview

NASVF was a membership organization offering educational programs and research resources for the seed and venture capital ecosystem. The core offerings consisted of two groundbreaking seminars—Seed Investment as a Team Sport (SITS) for angel investors and Swing for the Fences for entrepreneurs—alongside a published curriculum (Innovation Finance Reference Guide) and periodic research reports on state venture capital programs. Annual conferences provided ongoing professional development. The organization did not offer a software product or technology platform; rather, it delivered in-person seminars, conferences, and published research to train angel investors and entrepreneurs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Seed Investment as a Team Sport (SITS) Seminar A field seminar for angel investors that expanded understanding of business investing, catalyzed regional investor teams, and provided tools to optimize investment dollars. Delivered in over 70 cities across the country for angel investors and emerging angel networks.
• Swing for the Fences - Seed Investing for Entrepreneurs A seed investing course for entrepreneurs and tech transfer officials providing an inside look at how seed investors think and make decisions, and how to work successfully with venture investors and corporate partners.
• Innovation Finance Reference Guide Primary curriculum developed for the Council of Development Finance Agencies (CDFA) seed and venture capital finance course, serving as a reference guide for innovation finance education.
• Chart of State Venture Funds 2008 Report documenting U.S. state-supported venture capital funds by state, including capital under management, program type, year authorized, year investing began, and stages of investment.
• Report on State Venture Capital Programs 2006 Starting point for evaluation and design of state capital programs, examining current and former state programs to learn from successes and failures and adapt to serve state and regional capital needs. Co-authored by Susan P. Strommer (NASVF President and CEO) and George Lipper (NASVF Director of Publications), with contributions from Daniel Sandler of the University of Western Ontario Faculty of Law.
• NGA 2000: The Experiences of States with Seed and Venture Capital Report prepared for the National Governor's Association providing an overview of programs to define important design parameters for effective state programs, defining basic forms of risk capital and identifying providers of seed and venture capital.
• Annual Conferences and Venture Symposiums Annual conferences and venture symposiums held across various U.S. cities convening seed and venture fund practitioners for networking, education, and research dissemination.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 3,000 angel investors trained
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 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

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• Development Capital Networks (DCN)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1997DCN was engaged by NASVF in 1997 as its manager. DCN built the membership organization with over 200 organizational members, convened more than 125 seminars, forums, and conferences, trained thousands of angel investors and entrepreneurs, and contributed to research on the venture capital industry. DCN passed on direct responsibility to the NASVF Board of Directors in 2009.
• Council of Development Finance Agencies (CDFA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNASVF created the Innovation Finance Reference Guide which serves as the primary curriculum for CDFA's seed and venture capital finance course, establishing a long-term educational partnership.
• National Governor's AssociationflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerNASVF prepared a report for the National Governor's Association titled 'The Experiences of States with Seed and Venture Capital' (2000), providing an overview of programs to help define design parameters for effective state programs.
• State Venture Funds and Economic Development AgenciescoreOthersNASVF was a network of organizations including state venture funds, public sector agencies, and non-profit organizations that came together with shared commitment to building local economies through investment in local entrepreneurs. By 2008, membership grew to over 200 organizational members.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• National Association of Small Business Investment Companies: Trade association for SBA-licensed small business investment companies (SBICs). NASBIC represents a related but distinct capital-formation constituency (SBIC fund managers) that historically intersected with NASVF's state-program policy work.
• TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs): Global not-for-profit network of entrepreneurs and investors with chapters in many U.S. cities. TiE serves an overlapping audience of angel investors and entrepreneurs via mentorship, education, and networking programs.
• Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation: Major foundation focused on entrepreneurship and education. Kauffman funds research and programming that overlaps NASVF's mission of advancing seed and angel investing as economic development tools.
• Entrepreneurs' Organization: Global membership community of entrepreneurs offering peer learning, education, and networking. EO overlaps with NASVF's audience of entrepreneurs and incorporates venture-investor education into programming.
• National Venture Capital Association: The largest U.S. trade association for the venture capital industry. While its focus is institutional VC rather than seed/angel, NVCA serves a comparable advocacy, education, and policy role for the broader VC ecosystem.

Emerging players

• Gust: Angel investing platform that supports angel groups with fund administration, due diligence, and deal management. Like AngelList, it absorbs the group-formation and investor-operations functions that NASVF's SITS seminars sought to enable.
• AngelList: Digital platform for angel investing and startup fundraising. AngelList has displaced much of the deal-flow and networking functionality NASVF historically catalyzed, and now competes for the same audience of angel investors and early-stage entrepreneurs.
• Angel Investment Network: Online angel-investor matching platform operating across the U.S. and internationally. It provides a digital alternative to the regional angel-group-formation work that NASVF's seminars historically catalyzed.

Direct peers

• Angel Capital Association: Active national membership association for angel investors in the United States. It occupies the same niche NASVF historically served—angel-investor education, networking, and research—and is the most direct functional successor.
• Council of Development Finance Agencies: National association for development finance agencies and professionals. NASVF's Innovation Finance Reference Guide is the primary curriculum for CDFA's seed and VC finance course, making CDFA a deep operational peer in capital-formation education.

Market position

Strengths3 records

Weaknesses3 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/nasvf
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/nasvf

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about National Association of Seed and Venture Funds