What The Ventures does

The Ventures is a Palo Alto-based operator of global startup award events and venture-building programs, founded approximately 2010. The company runs a Global Startup Award series spanning 19 countries and 30+ major cities, having hosted 97 events over 14 years and accumulated 100,000+ participants. It positions itself as a two-sided platform connecting early-stage startups with 460+ global investor partners, including 119 VC funds and business angels managing over $11 billion in aggregate assets. Startup participation in the awards is free, and the company monetizes primarily through event sponsorships and Club membership subscriptions.

The core product surface consists of the Global Startup Award event series, a proprietary startup scoring methodology that is also extended through a partnership with the VC Score app, and The Ventures Club, a paid membership program launched in May 2024 that provides ongoing access to the investor network. Sponsorship revenue is anchored by a roster of major technology and consulting firms including AWS, Google, Meta, NVIDIA, Deloitte, and Miro. The Ventures also operates through co-organizing partners (Elpis Labs, Thoughtly, PitchLess, Impulso Madrid) and has entered a partnership with SusHi Tech Tokyo 2025 to extend reach into Japan.

The company is run by a small team of 11-50 employees and is led in part by Kseniya Shurak, former Incubation Manager at Demium VC. Its current strategic posture is geographic expansion: for 2025-2026 the company has announced entry into Argentina, the Baltics, Switzerland, UAE, Portugal, Cyprus, Vietnam, Peru, Finland, and Australia, alongside the Japan initiative.

Name

The Ventures

Legal name

The Ventures

Website

https://the-ventures.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Ventures is a Palo Alto-based operator of global startup award events, running competitions across 19 countries and 30+ cities. It connects 100,000+ participants with 460+ investor partners managing $11B+ in assets, monetizing via event sponsorships and The Ventures Club membership.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Startup Awards & Venture Community

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Corporate Accelerators & Startup Programs (FSANAHAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Venture Studios / Company Builders (FSANAAAH), Accelerators & Incubators (Investor-Operated) (FSANAAAM)

Keywords

• Startup award events
• Venture capital network
• Founder membership club
• Startup pitch competitions
• Investor matching services

Headquarters

HQ city

Palo Alto

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Event Sponsorships and Partnerships: Revenue generated from corporate sponsors (AWS, Miro, Google, Meta, NVIDIA, Deloitte, and others) who partner with The Ventures award events across different cities.
2. Club Membership: Revenue from The Ventures Club membership, a selective community for founders and tech innovators meeting criteria including $500K+ funding or $200K+ revenue.
3. Startup Scoring and Evaluation Services: Provides detailed scoring and feedback services for startups, with risk assessment to help investors identify promising investment opportunities.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Ventures organizes a global startup award competition (Global Startup Award) across 19 countries and 30 major cities, connecting early-stage startups with a network of 460+ investors and industry leaders through in-person pitch events. It also operates The Ventures Club, an exclusive membership association for distinguished founders and tech innovators who meet minimum thresholds of $500K funding or $200K annual revenue, providing venture capital insights and strategic resources. Revenue is generated from event sponsorships, club memberships, and startup scoring/evaluation services.

Product overview

The Ventures operates as a Global Startup Award platform and membership organization. The core offering is the Global Startup Award, which hosts startup competitions across 19 countries and 30+ major tech cities worldwide. The award connects early-stage startups with investors through pitch events, networking opportunities, and PR exposure. Additionally, The Ventures Club provides an exclusive membership tier for distinguished founders and tech innovators who meet specific criteria including funding milestones ($500K+ raised), revenue thresholds ($200K+ annual), and demonstrated market traction. The two offerings are complementary: the award events serve as a entry point for startup visibility while the club provides ongoing community access for established entrepreneurs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Global Startup Award A global startup competition that identifies high-potential startups across multiple cities worldwide and connects them with a network of 460+ investors, industry experts from companies like Apple, Tesla, OpenAI, Netflix, Stanford, and Berkeley. Startups apply online free of charge; top finalists pitch at in-person final events.
• The Ventures Club

Quantifiable outcome

• 119 VC funds and business angels managing over $11 billion in assets connected through the platform
• +2 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

28 partnerships are on record, tiered co-organizer, venue partner, major partner, academic partner, tech partner, legal partner, co-organiser, official partner event, partner, government partner, design partner, aws partner and hosting partner.

• Elpis Labsco-organizerStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-organizer of The Ventures Award New York 2026. Provides program expertise and organizational support for the award event.
• Thoughtlyvenue partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerVenue partner for The Ventures Award New York 2026, hosting the final pitch and awards ceremony.
• AWS (Amazon Web Services)major partnerGTM or Marketing PartnerCloud computing partner providing support for startup ecosystem across multiple event locations including NYC, UK, Japan, and others.
• PitchLessco-organizerStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-organizer of The Ventures Award Spain 2026, contributing organizational expertise and local startup ecosystem connections.
• Impulso Madridco-organizerStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-organizer of The Ventures Award Spain 2026, representing the Madrid startup ecosystem.
• MAD Tech Campusvenue partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerVenue partner for Spain 2026 event, hosting the final awards ceremony in Madrid.
• UCL (University College London)academic partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner providing university ecosystem connections and entrepreneurship support through UCL's Hatchery business incubator.
• Mirotech partnerTechnology or IntegrationTech partner providing collaboration platform services, with Head of Startup Program Jair Halevi serving as judge.
• ENR Law Officeslegal partnerImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerLegal partner for Israel 2025, with Partners Andrey Nazaretsky and Maxim Rakov providing legal expertise.
• Futuroundco-organiserStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-organiser for Israel 2025 award, providing organizational support and local ecosystem connections.
• SusHi Tech Tokyo 2025official partner eventStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Ventures Japan is an official partner event of SusHi Tech Tokyo 2025, Japan Sustainable Hub for Innovation.
• Google for Startups JapanpartnerGTM or Marketing PartnerHead of Google for Startups Japan Shino Tsuchiya serves as judge, providing tech platform connections.
• HitachipartnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerCorporate innovation group leader Hideaki Wakabayashi serves as judge, bringing corporate venture expertise.
• Ministry of Health of The Republic of Indonesiagovernment partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerChief of DTO Setiaji serves as judge, bringing government health tech perspective to Indonesia evaluation.
• DeloittepartnerGTM or Marketing PartnerGenerative AI Manager Aatif Belal serves as judge for Silicon Valley, providing professional services perspective.
• MetapartnerGTM or Marketing PartnerSr. Engineering Manager Reza Kakoee serves as judge, bringing tech platform engineering perspective.
• GooglepartnerGTM or Marketing PartnerCloud Strategy Leader Tinu Anand serves as judge, providing cloud platform expertise.
• VC Scoretech partnerTechnology or IntegrationStartup scoring platform partner enabling startups to create profiles and receive fundability scores for evaluation purposes.
• 69pixelsdesign partnerGTM or Marketing PartnerDesign partner responsible for website design, providing branding and visual identity services.
• Cloudvisoraws partnerTechnology or IntegrationAWS partner providing cloud infrastructure support across multiple events.
• UCL Innovation & Enterpriseacademic partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerDirector of Entrepreneurship Jerry Allen serves as judge, connecting university startup ecosystem.
• Founder Institute Serbiaco-organizerStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-Director Nedeljko Milosaveljević serves as judge, bringing startup accelerator ecosystem to Serbia 2025.
• Google for Startupshosting partnerGTM or Marketing PartnerGoogle for Startups hosts the Poland 2025 award, providing platform and visibility support.
• HubSpotpartnerTechnology or IntegrationMarketing platform partner for Poland 2025, providing growth tools and platform support.
• Tata Consultancy ServicespartnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerHead of M&A and VC initiatives Valery Rusakov serves as judge, bringing enterprise tech perspective.
• StartUP FIUacademic partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerDirector of Venture Ready Programs Gustavo Grande serves as judge, connecting university ecosystem.
• MicrosoftpartnerGTM or Marketing PartnerPartner AI Engineering Manager Roman Grachev serves as judge, bringing enterprise tech perspective.
• Stanford Universityacademic partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerSerial Entrepreneur & GenAI Expert Tamay Aykut, Former Assistant Professor at Stanford, serves as judge.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Slush: Slush organizes one of the world's largest founder-and-investor gatherings in Helsinki with global side events, very close in audience and sponsor model to The Ventures. Both depend on corporate sponsorships, target early-stage startups and VCs, and have expanded into year-round programming.
• Get in the Ring: Get in the Ring is a global startup competition operating across 100+ cities, pitching startups head-to-head for investor attention. Its multi-city award format and sponsor-driven revenue model are closely analogous to The Ventures, though at a smaller scale.
• Startup World Cup: Startup World Cup organizes a global startup tournament culminating in a San Francisco finale, very similar to The Ventures' multi-city award format. Both monetize via sponsorships and corporate partners, and both target early-stage startups seeking investor introductions and brand exposure.
• Founders Forum: Founders Forum operates an invite-only membership community of senior tech founders and investors with curated gatherings. It is directly comparable to The Ventures Club, which targets distinguished founders through selective criteria and recurring engagement, though Founders Forum skews more senior and Western.
• Seedstars: Seedstars runs a global startup competition and growth program focused on emerging markets, very similar in structure to The Ventures' awards. Both organize multi-city competitions, partner with VCs and corporates, and monetize through sponsorships while connecting early-stage startups to investors.
• Startup Grind: Startup Grind operates a global community of founders through local chapters and events in 125+ countries. It is directly comparable to The Ventures because both monetize event-driven startup engagement with corporate sponsorship, and both target early-stage founders with investor connectivity rather than direct equity investment.
• MassChallenge: MassChallenge is a global zero-equity accelerator running cohort-based startup programs across multiple countries with corporate sponsors and investor networks. It is comparable to The Ventures for its global footprint, no-equity model, and reliance on corporate partnerships to fund startup-facing programs.

Broad incumbents

• Techstars: Techstars is one of the largest global accelerators with equity-backed programs in 30+ countries — an explicit partner of The Ventures through the UK 2026 award. It is comparable as the broader incumbent that sits between startups and corporate partners, but operates a fundamentally different equity-investing model.
• Plug and Play: Plug and Play is a global innovation platform running accelerator programs in 50+ locations with deep corporate partnerships (also a The Ventures partner). It overlaps with The Ventures in connecting startups to corporate sponsors and VCs but is much larger and integrates equity-stage investment.
• Y Combinator: Y Combinator is the world's most prominent startup accelerator and sits at the apex of the founder-investor funnel that The Ventures addresses. It is comparable as a broader incumbent defining startup competition standards, although its equity-based model and Silicon Valley focus differ materially.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/the-ventures
• Facebookfacebook.com/the-ventures
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-ventures

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 The Ventures