A student-run, evergreen fund supporting Brown's founders.
Our Story
Van Wickle Ventures was founded in 2019 to back Brown's best entrepreneurs and give students hands-on experience in venture investing. It began with a generous gift from Robert '75 and Erna Place '76, and invests $25–50k checks from Brown's endowment into startups founded by Brown students, alumni and professors.
Throughout the school year, students source and rigorously diligence companies. Promising opportunities get a memo, and that memo gets presented to our investment committee comprised of seasoned alumni VCs from funds such as Pear VC and Alumni Ventures.
As an evergreen fund, all returns are reinvested, so VWV remains a permanent supporter of the university's entrepreneurial ecosystem.
A strong and passionate entrepreneurial community.
Brown's holistic education produces divergent, empathetic thinkers, which we believe is the kind who build successful companies. Brunonian startups such as Figma, MongoDB, Warby Parker, Casper and Workday each reimagined their industry. We hope to have the chance to help out whatever comes next.
Real capital, real companies, real decisions.
Each year a new cohort of associates trains through the Group Independent Study Project, a credited class taught by our co-directors. As a part of that cohort you will learn via projects to analyze markets, talk to founders, develop a thesis/memo, and defend it to an Investment Committe.