Reports

The way we fund new businesses doesn’t work for most entrepreneurs. In the US, four out of five entrepreneurs never raise formal financing. Most of the people getting funding to build the companies of the future still represent a tiny, and wealthy, portion of the global population. Over the past year, our team at Village Capital interviewed more than 200 investors, asset managers, foundations, family offices and pension funds – as well as 50 entrepreneurs – to identify and investigate new and transformative approaches for investing in entrepreneurs that can yield more inclusive results.

America’s system for senior care is unsustainable. We’re about to have more senior citizens than at any time in American history, and they’re approaching retirement age in the worst financial shape in decades. One-in-five Americans has no nest egg at all. With government debate around healthcare progressing at a glacial pace, we’ll need to find other ways to make our system more efficient and prepare for the dramatic change in demographics. Our Health US 2018 program focused on the latest technology and innovation around improving senior care

It takes roughly $30,000 to start a business. Lots of successful entrepreneurs raise that money from friends and family. But what if the people in your network don’t have that kind of money? If we’re going to change the ratio of venture investment going to women, African Americans and Latinx founders, then changing the social capital dynamic at the earliest stages is an important place to start.

We often see early-stage startup CEOs treating talent as an administrative function rather than a strategic one. This can be a critical mistake. Talent is absolutely crucial to early-stage startup success. This report features nine ideas and exercises from leaders who are committed to improving access to talent for small and growing businesses in emerging markets – a diverse range of organizations from incubators to consulting firms.

Automation and artificial intelligence may create as many jobs as they replace. Is our workforce ready? In June 2018 Village Capital and Autodesk Foundation brought together startups, investors, business leaders, and academics for a daylong discussion about how startups can harness automation as a positive force for the workers of the future.

We’re never going to stop moving: transporting people, food and other goods from place to place. But we can get smarter about it. In the past century we’ve evolved from steam engines to gas-guzzling carburetors to electric motors, and now we’re putting those electric motors in the sky. We’re re-learning how to recycle things, and finding new ways to conserve energy.

Fintech in Africa is evolving quickly. Today, there are hundreds of fintech startups across the continent – but how has the sector changed in recent years? For our latest Fintech Africa program, we selected twelve startups that are building on top of the strong infrastructure of payments technology. We saw entrepreneurs building solutions for a population that is living longer, entering the middle class, and rethinking the way they finance sectors like agriculture and retail.

In 2016 we launched VilCap Communities, a 26-city pilot to license our curriculum and investment model to accelerators, incubators and investors around the globe. This report compiles lessons learned, based on survey data and interviews with >100 ecosystem leaders and entrepreneurs.