Kauffman Fellows 2022 Year in Review

While we’re fully in the swing of 2023, we’re reflecting on the past year and wanted to take a moment and express our gratitude for our Fellows, mentors, discussion leaders, and ecosystem partners who helped make 2022 one of the best yet. This was one of the busiest and most productive years that Kauffman Fellows has ever seen.

Three different classes graduated from the Kauffman Fellows Program. After an extended time in the program due to the pandemic, we celebrated Class 23’s graduation at our Annual Summit in Mexico City in March. We celebrated Class 24’s graduation amongst the redwoods of Santa Cruz, California. And in November, in the middle of the desert in Dubai, we celebrated Class 25’s graduation.

We hosted our Annual Summit in Mexico City. With over 500 total attendees, 315 Fellows, 115 speakers, 50 sessions, and 15 sponsors, including BlackRock, SoftBank, and AWS (among others), we celebrated LatAm’s maturing startup scene. With new unicorns minted almost monthly, proven successes such as Nubank, Clip, Rappi, and Kavak joined us to share what it takes to win in LatAm. We explored CDMX and fostered deeper bonds through shared cultural experiences with floats down the canals of Xochimilco, explorations of the Teotihuacan pyramids, and tours of ancestral cultivation and agroecological practices.

We welcomed Class 27 into the Kauffman Fellows family. A dynamic group of 59 investors from 18 countries, hailing from top VC firms around the globe and representing our most diverse class yet (47% women and 51% people of color), Class 27 is a group of highly successful investors fueling entrepreneurs everywhere and supporting entrepreneurship as a catalyst for economic growth and social change.

We announced Nairobi, Kenya, as the next destination for our Annual Summit. Taking place September 2023, the Kauffman Fellows Africa VC Summit will bring more than 300 investors from over 45 countries to Kenya and aims to provide a tangible impact on the local economy by exposing investors from top global VC firms to opportunities in the region. With support from Kenyan President, William Ruto, as well as Sakaja Arthur Johnson, the Governor of Nairobi, and US Ambassador to Kenya, Meg Whitman, among others, we’re thrilled to shine a light on the region’s innovations and talented entrepreneurs.