Stanford GSB VCI Announces Research Partnership with World Economic Forum

The Stanford Graduate School of Business Venture Capital Initiative (VCI) has launched a research partnership with the World Economic Forum as an academic collaborator for their Future of Venture Capital initiative’s Unlocking Liquidity and Growth workstream.

This collaboration will apply VCI’s data-driven research methodologies to analyze the structural transformations reshaping the global venture capital industry. Our findings will be published in a comprehensive insights report, which will be released in Q1 2026.

Venture capital has experienced unprecedented growth over the last decade, evolving from a cottage industry into a primary engine of economic growth, responsible for backing many of the world’s most transformative companies. While the industry has matured significantly, evolving market dynamics have created new challenges around liquidity pathways, fund structures, and value creation models.

Over the last 20 years, close to 70% of technology firms that went public were VC–backed. However, given increasingly constrained traditional exit routes through IPOs and M&A, and exits at a decade low, the industry faces new structural challenges. With record levels of dry powder needing deployment, these shifts require new approaches to ensure venture capital can continue its vital role in supporting groundbreaking innovation and economic growth.

This effort brings together leading venture firms and their LPs to create a blueprint for the industry’s next phase of growth-establishing solutions for liquidity, value creation, and governance that will enhance venture capital’s ability to fund transformative innovations.

The steering committee includes Monica Adractas (CPP Investments), Zachary Bogue (DCVC), Navin Chaddha (Mayfield), Raj Ganguly (B Capital), Nabeel Koshak (Saudi Venture Capital), Scott Sandell (New Enterprise Associates), Pål Erik Sjatil (Lightrock), Bejul Somaia (Lightspeed Venture Partners), and Hemant Taneja (General Catalyst). The research will be led by Professor Ilya Strebulaev, Founding Director of the Venture Capital Initiative and The David S. Lobel Professor of Private Equity and Professor of Finance at Stanford Graduate School of Business, in collaboration with Guillaume Hingel, Future of Venture Capital Lead, and Drew Propson, Head of Technology and Innovation in Financial Services from the World Economic Forum, supported by Iana Pavlovskaia, Head of Communications at VCI, and a dedicated research team from VCI.

Stanford GSB Venture Capital Initiative (VCI) is a research and teaching initiative dedicated to advancing the understanding of the global innovation and venture capital ecosystem. By conducting research, collecting high-quality data, and developing new frameworks, VCI aims to help solve critical problems relevant to entrepreneurs, financiers, and policymakers worldwide.

The Future of Venture Capital initiative is a World Economic Forum platform which brings together industry leading investors, limited partners, and founders to identify collaborative opportunities to strengthen the global venture capital ecosystem, fostering an environment that fuels innovation worldwide. Through this multi-stakeholder effort, we are developing practical solutions that enhance liquidity pathways, deepen founder–investor alignment and unlock new value creation models.