Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise
Kenan-Flagler Business School

venture capital

How to Grow Diversity in High-Growth Startups

How to Grow Diversity in High-Growth Startups

Aug 24, 2022 • Kenan Insight

Some analysis indicates companies with diverse executive teams drive more revenue and are more likely to experience higher profits relative to their nondiverse peers, yet founding teams for both high-growth startups and the private capital groups that fund them stand in stark contrast to the U.S. working age population. Why? And why should it matter? In this week’s Kenan Insight, Kenan Institute Distinguished Fellow Emmanuel Yimfor unpacks statistics on the composition of both high-growth startups and private capital groups, explores the economic and societal implications of their lack of diversity and provides suggestions to facilitate change.
Earth - Climate Change

Can Entrepreneurs Save the Planet?

Mar 16, 2022 • Kenan Insight

With a recent report from the United Nations warning that climate change has already begun to cause irreversible damage, experts during the 2022 Kenan Institute Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Conference discussed the role innovation can – and should – be playing to combat these ill effects. This week’s insight explores the topic through Q&A with Dr. Eric Toone, executive managing director and technology lead at Breakthrough Energy Ventures, and Dr. Jacqueline Pless, the Fred Kayne (1960) Career Development Professor of Entrepreneurship at MIT Sloan School of Management.
Capital Ecosystems: Seeding Smaller and Regional Funds to Increase Opportunity

Capital Ecosystems: Seeding Smaller and Regional Funds to Increase Opportunity

Feb 24, 2022 • Video

This session delves into three critical aspects of smaller/regional funds. First, is their role in increasing diversity among both capital allocators and entrepreneurs who receive funding. Second, is how pooling capital in diversified vehicles that can invest locally can promote investment by larger VCs/investors. Third, is how regional funds can bridge the divides in communities that lack robust VC ecosystems.
Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Series – Capital Ecosystems: Seeding Smaller and Regional Funds to Increase Opportunity
May 26, 2026

Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Series – Capital Ecosystems: Seeding Smaller and Regional Funds to Increase Opportunity

This session delves into three critical aspects of smaller/regional funds. First, is their role in increasing diversity among both capital allocators and entrepreneurs who receive funding. Second, is how pooling capital in diversified vehicles that can invest locally can promote investment by larger VCs/investors. Third, is how regional funds can bridge the divides in communities that lack robust VC ecosystems.
venture-capital

Employment Dynamics: Venture Capital-Backed Startups See Faster Growth Than Other Firms

Feb 15, 2022 • News & Media

A new study by the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise and the National Venture Capital Association shows employment grows roughly eight times faster at venture capital-backed startups than other private-sector firms, and 62.5% of employment at VC-backed companies took place in states other than California, Massachusetts, and New York, despite the concentration of VC investment in those areas.
Maryann-Feldman

CREATE’s Feldman Testifies on Technology-Based Economic Development Challenges

Oct 7, 2021 • News & Media

CREATE Faculty Director and UNC Public Policy Professor Maryann Feldman recently served as a panelist examining conditions for technology-based economic development. While speaking to the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology Sept. 29, Feldman cautioned against treating universities as lynchpins in the effort to drive regional innovation—noting reforms are needed to help university technology transfer offices recoup operating costs—and strongly advocated for new financing models to spur economic development in areas lacking venture capital support.
Equitable Entrepreneurship

What COVID-19 Taught Us About Equitable Entrepreneurship

Sep 22, 2021 • Kenan Insight

As the pandemic forced shutdowns across the globe, U.S. government entities at the federal, state and local levels worked swiftly to secure known drivers of economic growth and job creation – including entrepreneurial ecosystems and small businesses. And while the programs implemented were widely lauded as successful, the story of who benefitted – and who did not – is more complex. This week’s Kenan Insight explores our experts’ key findings around the roles of policy and implementation in supporting equal access to opportunity.
Main Street Venture Capital

Venture-backed vs. Main Street: A Widening Business Gap

Jul 21, 2021 • Kenan Insight

The COVID-19 pandemic increased economic inequities in a number of ways, including in access to external capital – and while 2020 marked a break-out year for venture-backed firms, the pandemic hit many main street businesses hard. In this Kenan Insight, we explore the forces driving the haves and have-nots in this new economic climate, as well as actionable policy solutions as government support programs wind down.
Kenan Insights Is There A Small Business Funding Gap Greg Brown

Is There a Small Business Funding Gap?

Feb 26, 2020 • Video

Small businesses are an undeniable engine of growth for the United States, comprising 99 percent of all U.S. firms and driving nearly half our total economic activity. Yet small business owners across the country lack sufficient capital to succeed, grow and scale. The Kenan Institute has conducted a new analysis on the role of the Small Business Administration’s SBIC program in providing capital to the often-overlooked small businesses operating outside of metropolitan centers, as well as those owned by women and underrepresented minorities. Greg Brown, executive director at the Kenan Institute and professor of finance at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School, discusses the findings in this video.
Is There a Small Business Funding Gap?

Is There a Small Business Funding Gap?

Feb 25, 2020 • Kenan Insight

Small businesses are an undeniable engine of growth for the United States, comprising 99 percent of all U.S. firms and driving nearly half our total economic activity. Yet small business owners across the country lack sufficient capital to succeed, grow and scale. The Kenan Institute has conducted a new analysis on the role of the Small Business Administration’s SBIC program in providing capital to the often-overlooked small businesses operating outside of metropolitan centers, as well as those owned by women and underrepresented minorities. You can access an overview of our findings, as well as key takeaways for business and policy leaders, by clicking below.