Who We Are

Traditionally, student and professional venture scouts alike roam the campuses of Ivy League schools, prestigious technical institutes, and universities with deep alumni ties to the VC community.

 

These are fine institutions, but they are not the sole bastions of opportunity. Brilliant founders, vibrant entrepreneurial spirit, bold projects, and wonderful companies are shaping the winds of change at universities across the nation — from state schools and the Big Ten to liberal arts colleges and everything in between.

​

However, structural complexity keeps access to capital restrictive. Investable opportunity, while available across schools, is more thinly distributed at institutions without robust VC presence.

 

For professional investors, spending time & energy to identify the one or two promising startups at traditionally overlooked schools is risky, so most instead opt to deploy sourcing resources on campuses with greater entrepreneurial density.

 

For founders, venture funding is often a black box into which visibility is afforded only to those with pedigree, connections, or luck.

 

For entrepreneurially-minded or finance-interested students, opportunities to learn about venture capital from practitioners — not to mention working with them — can be few and far between.

​

Olivewood Ventures solves for equitable VC in student-led ventures.

 

Offering unprecedented and professionally transformative experiences, Olivewood engages student "fellows" to identify the best-and-brightest founders at their schools. Olivewood then works with founders and their correspondent fellow to establish strategic priorities and craft bespoke, institutional-quality materials. Finally, Olivewood selectively connects founders with investor partners, seeking mutually beneficial outcomes with an orientation toward long-term partnership.

​

Olivewood Ventures is at the forefront of a massive value unlock — empowering "undercover" founders to build the generational companies of the future.