We describe a series of steps which can be used by those concerned about their institution’s investment into Venture Capital. We show how to rate your institution’s investments against our Criteria for Ethical Venture Investment, and to demand better from your institution.

We are applying this methodology to venture capital firms and the results will be made available at our database.

Attend our teach-ins for detailed help in using this.

Step 0: Make demands

Simple demands can be made without having completed research, or when that research is not possible due to undisclosed investments or timing:

[institution] will not invest in any Venture Capital fund from a firm that does not have an ‘A’ rating from the Institute of Ethical Venture Capital

These demands can help put pressure on unethical Venture Capital, even if they are not adopted by your institution, so we encourage their liberal use.

Step 1: Identify investments into VC

If you are not a member of the investment committee, such as university students or union members requesting divestment from their leadership, you may first have to learn what investments into venture capital exist.

There are a number of different ways to do this, described below (and in more detail in our teach-in on October 3):

  • If you’re in a public university, make a Freedom of Information (or local equivalent) request for a list funds that your institution is invested in. Google any investments to determine if they are venture capital firms (or contact us for help)

  • Review your university’s Financial Report for an overview of financials and asset allocation breakdowns. Pull the university 990 Form on Propublica.org. Schedule R of the 990 Form will show you the funds your university is invested in.

  • Some university libraries provide access to private databases, such as Preqin, Crunchbase, or Pitchbook, which may list your institution’s investments.

  • Demand that your institution disclose VC firms (and other alternate investments) in which they are invested. It is often worthwhile to agree to not publicly share the data outside your research group unless complicity is found, as institutions believe that their investments are important financial secrets.

  • Contact us if you’re having trouble and we can provide research help or use our network for find more information for you.

Step 2: Rate each VC, or check their rating in our Database

As of September 2024, we have not yet built out our database. You may contact us to ask us to prioritize the firms you’ve identified, or to share the results of your research.

We are building software to help automate this process for researchers. Please contact us to beta test it.

If you’d like to do the research yourself, here is the algorithm:

  • Note that for each violation of the criteria, it is important to record a screenshot of the violation, its URL, timestamp, and the firm, individual, and/or company involved.

  • for each VC firm in which your institution is invested:

    • determine whether the firm itself has violated the criteria directly

    • identify each “general partner” or “partner” in the firm through the firm’s website, or the SEC Form D. For each partner:

      • using google and social media searches, especially X, Instagram, and LinkedIn, determine whether the partner has violated the criteria. If their LinkedIn is private, contact us for help.

    • identify each company in the firm’s portfolio

      • using the firm’s website

      • pull SEC reports such as 13F HR to review the investments/commitments of the fund and/or general partner

      • using Google (for firms outside the US, search in national media , where the company is based, using the country’s language)

      • using private databases Preqin, Crunchbase, or Pitchbook, for secret investments. These may be available via research institutions to which you are connected, such as university libraries.

      • for each company identified

        • research whether the company directly violates any of the criteria

        • find a list of founders, board members and company executives (using the company website, Linkedin, or private databases)

          • for each person:

            • using google and social media searches, especially X, IG, and LinkedIn, determine whether the partner has violated the criteria. If their LinkedIn is private, contact us for help.

To rate the VC, reach out to us to run your research through our scoring algorithm (currently under development).

Step 3: Share your research results

Contact us to add your research results to our database.

Step 4: Demand divestment

If every VC firm is rated an ‘A’, or your institution is not invested in any venture capital, you can use the following language:

[institution] will not invest in any Venture Capital fund from a firm that does not have an ‘A’ rating from the Institute of Ethical Venture Capital

This language is also appropriate if you have not yet completed the research, or if it has not yet been possible to determine the institution’s investments into Venture Capital.

If any VC firms have a lower rating than an ‘A’, you can use language similar to the following, tailored to your results and the change you’d like your institution to make:

[institution] will not invest in, and in the case of cyclic funds will divest from, any Venture Capital fund whose firm does not have an ‘A’, ‘B’ or ‘C’ rating from the Institute of Ethical Venture Capital. Additionally, it will cease investments into any funds from firms with a ‘C’ rating by 2027. It will not complete existing “capital call” commitments for any firm rated ‘D’ or ‘F’, or after 2027 any firms rated ‘C’.

These demands can help put pressure on unethical Venture Capital, even if they are not adopted by your institution, so we encourage their liberal use.

Please feel free to contact us at any time!