Venture Fellows

What Venture Fellows does

Venture Fellows is an academic fellowship program housed at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. Founded in 1999 and now in its 26th year, it places full-time McCombs MBA students with venture capital and private equity firms for the full academic year, combining hands-on firm work with a speaker-based two-semester curriculum and twice-yearly national treks. Typical Fellow responsibilities include deal sourcing, market research, due diligence, and portfolio company support, while the curriculum covers the full spectrum of private investing with weekly sessions featuring GPs, LPs, and founders.

The program operates as a 6-credit, two-semester course; placements are unpaid internships structured as course requirements rather than commercial transactions. There is no proprietary technology platform; the offering is a single, integrated fellowship combining placement, curriculum, and treks. Partner firms include 20+ VC and PE shops such as Silverton Partners, S3 Ventures, Mucker Capital, Astō Consumer Partners, Greenbelt, Anthos Capital, Mercury Fund, Strattam Capital, Next Coast Ventures, Moneta Ventures, Mercury Fund, and Cosmic Venture Partners, spanning both Austin/Texas-based funds and national platforms. The program maintains a 450+ alumni network working across the VC/PE industry and has placed alumni at firms including Blackstone, Vista Equity Partners, Evercore, and Silverton Partners.

Name

Venture Fellows

Legal name

Venture Fellows

Website

https://venturefellows.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Venture Fellows is a 26-year academic fellowship at the McCombs School of Business (UT Austin) that places full-time MBA students with venture capital and private equity firms for a full academic year of hands-on work, structured curriculum, and national treks.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Austin

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Fellowship Program: Fellowship operates as a 6-credit two-semester course at McCombs School of Business. Internships are unpaid and structured as course requirements. The program generates value through talent pipeline for partner firms and career development for students.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Venture Fellows operates a year-long academic fellowship that places full-time McCombs MBA students at venture capital and private equity firms for the full academic year. The program combines hands-on firm experience (deal sourcing, market research, diligence, portfolio support), a two-semester speaker-based curriculum earning 6 academic credits, and twice-yearly national treks to leading investment firms. Fellows commit 12-18 hours per week at host firms during spring and fall semesters.

Product overview

Venture Fellows is a single, unified fellowship program — a year-long MBA fellowship that places McCombs School of Business students at venture capital and private equity firms for the full academic year. It combines hands-on firm experience with a rigorous speaker-based curriculum (6 credits across two semesters) and national treks. The program does not offer a multi-product or platform-plus-modules architecture; it is one fellowship offering composed of three integrated elements: a work placement (unpaid internship at a partner VC/PE firm), a two-semester curriculum, and twice-yearly national treks. The program is affiliated with the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Venture Fellows Fellowship Program A year-long fellowship that places full-time McCombs MBA students at venture capital and private equity firms for the full academic year, combining hands-on firm experience (deal sourcing, market research, diligence, portfolio company support), a two-semester speaker-based curriculum earning 6 academic credits, and twice-yearly national treks to leading investment firms across the country. Fellows commit 12-18 hours per week at host firms during spring and fall semesters.

Quantifiable outcome

• 450+ alumni placed at leading VC/PE firms including Blackstone, Vista Equity Partners, Evercore, Silverton Partners, S3 Ventures

Named customers20 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

30 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Silverton PartnerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEarly-stage VC backing breakout B2B and consumer-software founders in Texas and beyond. Hosts Venture Fellows for academic year internships providing deal sourcing, market research, and diligence support.
• S3 VenturescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner$900M AUM VC firm leading Seed through Growth rounds for category-defining tech in Texas. Hosts Venture Fellows interns for hands-on VC experience.
• Mucker CapitalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEarly-stage VC backing Seed–Series A founders in B2B SaaS, vertical AI, and overlooked markets. Provides internship opportunities for Venture Fellows.
• Astō Consumer PartnerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOperator-led PE firm scaling disruptive consumer brands with proven go-to-market expertise. Hosts Fellows for PE-focused internship experience.
• Owner Resource GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrivate equity firm investing in mid-sized businesses across industrials and business services. Partners with Venture Fellows for talent pipeline.
• GreenbeltcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAustin PE firm with $2.5B AUM investing in middle-market companies driving the transition to a more resilient, electrified energy future. Hosts Venture Fellows interns.
• Vegvisir CapitalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPE firm investing in capital-efficient B2B software and tech-enabled services companies with proven products and opportunities for accelerated growth. Provides internship placement for Fellows.
• Moneta VenturescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEarly-stage VC firm scaling mission-critical enterprise SaaS across the West Coast & Texas. Hosts Venture Fellows for academic year internships.
• Next Coast VenturescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAustin VC firm with $265M AUM, backing founders in high-growth markets outside Silicon Valley. Partners with Venture Fellows for talent placement.
• Clutch VCcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTexas-focused pre-seed and seed VC firm backing capital-efficient B2B SaaS founders. Hosts Venture Fellows for internship experience.
• Anthos CapitalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSanta Monica VC managing $2B+ across 5 funds, backing seed to growth stage consumer and tech companies. Partners with VF for student placement.
• Mercury FundcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHouston-based early-stage VC with $750M AUM and $9B+ in portfolio value created. Hosts Venture Fellows for hands-on VC experience.
• Strattam CapitalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAustin PE firm with $1B+ AUM partnering with founder-led B2B software companies to become vertical market leaders. Provides internship opportunities.
• Full Frame Capital PartnerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerConsumer-focused growth equity firm partnering with visionary founders to scale disruptive brands. Hosts Venture Fellows intern.
• Berch CapitalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAustin-based growth equity firm backing exceptional entrepreneurs at the intersection of technology, timing, and talent. Partners with VF for placement.
• Next VenturescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEarly-stage VC firm focused on seed and Series A investments addressing root causes of poor health outcomes through whole person health. Hosts VF Fellows.
• Seaplane VenturescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBoutique Austin VC backing pre-seed and seed tech startups with high-conviction, hands-on support and concentrated portfolio strategy. Provides internship placement.
• Moonshots CapitalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAustin seed-stage VC founded by military veterans, with $65M+ deployed across 40+ companies at frontier of dual-use and defense tech. Hosts Venture Fellows intern.
• Cosmic Venture PartnerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVC firm hosting Venture Fellows intern for Spring 2026. Provides hands-on experience in venture investing.
• LAB VenturesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal Miami venture firm and studio. Fellows visited during Miami Trek to meet with VCs and participate in team-building activities.
• Harpoon VenturesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSan Diego-based defense and deep-tech focused VC firm. Fellows visited during San Diego Trek for firm meetings and team activities.
• Founders FundminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational venture firm visited during Fall 2025 Miami Trek. Provides exposure to leading VC firm operations.
• Sunflower FundminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMiami-based fund visited during Fall 2025 trek. Part of national firm visit program.
• BDT & MSD PartnersminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNew York-based investment firm visited during Spring 2024 NYC Trek. Part of national firm visit program.
• Apollo Global ManagementminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNew York-based alternative asset manager visited during NYC Trek. Provides exposure to PE firm operations.
• EverlywellminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDigital health platform led by CEO Julia Cheek who spoke during Spring 2025 speaker series. Under her leadership, Everly Health delivered 45+ million COVID-19 tests.
• Mainsail PartnersminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGrowth equity firm with $2.2B+ in committed capital. Co-Founder Gavin Turner spoke at UT about growth equity investing in bootstrapped software companies.
• Union Square VenturesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNYC VC firm where Brad Burnham spoke to VF Spring Trek attendees about investing in disruptive technology.
• Primary VenturesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNew York VC firm met during Spring 2023 NYC Trek.
• Dell Family OfficeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFamily office met during Spring 2023 NYC Trek alongside VF alumni happy hour.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Emerging players

• Dorm Room Fund: Dorm Room Fund is a student-run venture fund backed by First Round Capital that invests in student-led startups and trains MBA/undergraduate students in venture investing. It overlaps with Venture Fellows in developing young talent for VC careers and operating inside top-tier university ecosystems.
• Contrary Capital: Contrary Capital is a student-led venture fund that recruits and trains MBA and undergraduate students to source and evaluate deals. While structured as an investment vehicle rather than a fellowship, it serves a similar MBA talent-pipeline function for the VC ecosystem as Venture Fellows does via internship placement.

Broad incumbents

• Plug and Play Ventures: Plug and Play is a global accelerator and VC platform with fellowship/associate programs for MBA and graduate-level talent. It develops early-career investors and operators in a broader commercial structure than Venture Fellows but with a similar talent-development and venture-pipeline focus.
• Antler: Antler is a global early-stage VC that runs residency programs placing early-career operators and aspiring investors with startup founders. Its fellowship-style programs develop venture talent in a broader, global setting, with a similar talent-development mission to Venture Fellows but a more commercial, fund-based structure.

Direct peers

• Wharton Private Equity & Venture Capital Association: The Wharton PE/VC Association is a leading student organization at Wharton MBA focused on private equity and venture capital, providing networking, treks, and recruiting support similar to Venture Fellows. It serves a comparable function for Wharton MBAs that Venture Fellows does for McCombs MBAs, including firm placement and speaker programming.
• HBS PE/VC Club: Harvard Business School's PE/VC student organization supports MBAs pursuing careers in private equity and venture capital through events, treks, and recruiting preparation. It is a peer MBA student organization in the same recruiting and pipeline-building category as Venture Fellows.
• Stanford GSB Private Equity & Venture Capital Club: The Stanford GSB PE/VC Club is a student-run organization providing MBA students with exposure to and recruiting support for private equity and venture capital careers. It parallels Venture Fellows in student-led model, recruiting focus, and event/trek programming at a top MBA program.
• Chicago Booth Private Equity Group: The Private Equity Group at Chicago Booth is a student-led organization serving MBA students interested in PE/VC careers, providing firm treks, recruiting support, and speaker events. It is comparable to Venture Fellows in structure, mission, and operating model at another top MBA program.
• Kauffman Fellows: Kauffman Fellows is a globally recognized venture capital fellowship program with a two-year structure placing participants inside VC firms. It is the closest direct analog to Venture Fellows in mission (developing the next generation of VC investors) and structure (fellowship placement + curated curriculum + network), making it a highly comparable peer.
• Columbia Business School PE/VC Club: Columbia Business School's PE/VC Club is a student organization supporting MBAs pursuing private equity and venture capital careers. It offers events, treks, and recruiting resources similar to those at Venture Fellows, serving an analogous MBA talent-development function.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/venturefellows
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/venture-fellows

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 Venture Fellows