Endeavor is a non-profit organization headquartered in New York City that credits itself as pioneering the concept of high-impact entrepreneurship in growth markets around the world. Its mission is to select, mentor and accelerate the best High-Impact Entrepreneurs around the world.
Established in 1997, Endeavor is headquartered in New York City with satellite offices in San Francisco and Singapore. It also has offices in Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Colombia, Detroit, Egypt, Greece, Indonesia, Jordan, Lebanon, Louisville, Malaysia, Mexico, Miami, Morocco, Peru, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Turkey, UAE and Uruguay. The organization expanded to 25 countries in 2015, including expansions in the Middle East, Europe and Southeast Asia.
Endeavor aims to identify and support those entrepreneurs with the greatest potential for economic and social impact in their regions. Endeavor provides the entrepreneurs in its network with services that will help them grow their ventures, create jobs, transform economies and support future generations of entrepreneurs.
Since 1997, Endeavor has screened and provided feedback to over 47,000 candidates and selected over a thousand High-Impact Entrepreneurs from more than 700 companies. Supported and mentored by a network of 2,500+ local and global business leaders, these entrepreneurs have created over 500,000 high-value jobs and in 2014 and generated $8 billion in revenues. Among other impact metrics, companies in the Endeavor portfolio average a 68% growth rate within the first two years of selection. Currently, Endeavor Entrepreneurs donate annually back to the organization, which eventually aims to be self-sustaining.
1997: Linda Rottenberg and Peter Kellner establish Endeavor.
1998: The AVINA Foundation provides $500,000 in seed capital and an Argentine business leader provides a $200,000 matching grant. Endeavor initiates offices in Argentina and Chile.
1999: Endeavor organizes its first venture forums, linking international investors with emerging-market entrepreneurs.
2000: Endeavor launches Endeavor Brazil and Uruguay.
2001: Endeavor holds its ninth selection panel, and selects its 100th entrepreneur. Endeavor launches Endeavor Mexico. Time Magazine recognizes Endeavor’s founders as among the "Top 100 Innovators for the 21st Century" in its November 5, 2001 issue.
2002: The Schwab Foundation and the World Economic Forum endorse Endeavor as one of 40 leading examples of social entrepreneurship from around the world.,
2003: The International Finance Corporation funds Endeavor scoping trips to Africa, and Endeavor decides to launch a South Africa affiliate.
2004: Edgar Bronfman Jr becomes Chairman of Endeavor’s Global Board of Directors.
2006: James Wolfensohn, former president of The World Bank, joins Endeavor’s Global Board of Directors. Endeavor opens operations in Colombia and Turkey.
2007: Endeavor celebrates its 10th anniversary. MercadoLibre is the first Endeavor company to go public on NASDAQ. Thomas Friedman highlights Endeavor in the latest edition of his book, The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century Version 3.0.
2008: Endeavor opens affiliates in Egypt, Jordan and India. Wenceslao Casares, one of the first Endeavor Entrepreneurs, joins the Global Board of Directors. Linda Rottenberg co-chairs the World Economic Forum on the Middle East, held in Egypt. Endeavor receives a commitment of $10 million from the Omidyar Network.
2009: Endeavor launches the Mentor Capital Program, Global 25 Program, Endeavor Jordan, and Endeavor's Center for High-Impact Entrepreneurship research arm. Endeavor opens its satellite office in San Francisco. Endeavor Brazil engages 5.3MM people in Global Entrepreneurship Week. Second HBS case study is published, focused on Endeavor in the MENA region. Andy Freire becomes the first Entrepreneur to serve as a country board chairman (Argentina).
2010: Endeavor launches in Egypt. Endeavor’s CEO, MENA board members, and several Endeavor Entrepreneurs participate in US Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship.
2011: Endeavor launches in Lebanon and Dubai (UAE).
2012: Endeavor introduces Endeavor Catalyst, a sustainability initiative, and launches in Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, and Greece.
2013: Endeavor launches in Miami, Florida and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia as well as Casablanca, Morocco. Miami becomes its first location in the United States and Kuala Lumpur becomes the second location in Asia.
2014: Endeavor launches in Peru and Spain, its second location in Europe.
2015: Endeavor launches in the Philippines, Detroit, Louisville, and Bulgaria. The organization was also awarded the 2015 Henry Kravis Prize for Nonprofit Leadership.
Endeavor holds a gala fundraiser event in New York City every year. The Gala brings together nearly 500 top international business leaders, decision makers and Endeavor network members to celebrate the organization's work and honor the accomplishments of well-known entrepreneurs and executives.
Gala honorees have included:
Stephen A. Schwarzman, CEO of Blackstone Group
Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, Founders of Skype
Rupert Murdoch, CEO of News Corp
Jonathan Nelson, CEO of Providence Equity Partners
Kevin P. Ryan, Michael Bryzek, Susan Lyne, Alexis Maybank, and Alexandra Wilkis Wilson of Gilt Groupe
Reid Hoffman, Founder of LinkedIn
Fadi Ghandour, CEO of Aramex
Sir Richard Branson, Founder of Virgin Group
Designer Diane von Furstenberg
Endeavor also holds an invitation-only biennial summit that convenes leading entrepreneurs, investors and stakeholders in the Endeavor network to discuss and learn about strategies for entrepreneurial growth and innovation. The Summit regularly features panels, workshops and keynote talks from some of the world's leading entrepreneurs and business people.
The 2013 Summit took place in San Francisco and featured talks with Alex Asseily, CEO of Jawbone, Jack Dorsey and Biz Stone, founders of Twitter, John Donahoe, CEO of eBay and Dave Goldberg of SurveyMonkey, among other big names.
Thomas Friedman, best-selling author and Pulitzer Prize winning columnist, stated in his book The World is Flat that "Endeavor was formed for the purpose of promoting entrepreneurs in emerging markets. Its basic model is to link up small and midsize businesses with seasoned entrepreneurs so that little guys and gals can get the advice and contacts they need to grow their companies into bigger businesses that can employ more people -- the best antipoverty program of all."
Edgar Bronfman, Jr. (Chairman), Accretive LLC, General Partner
Michael J. Ahearn, True North Venture Partners Chairman & Managing Partner
Emilio Azcárraga Jean, Televisa, Chairman, President, and CEO
Matthew Bannick, Omidyar Network, Managing Partner; eBay, Former President
Nicholas F. Beim, Matrix Partners, General Partner
Matthew Brown, CAIS, Co-Founder & CEO
Wenceslao Casares, Lemon.com, Founder & CEO; Endeavor Entrepreneur
J. Michael Cline, Accretive LLC, Managing Partner
Paul J. Fribourg, Continental Grain Company, Chairman & CEO
Jason Green, Emergence Capital Partners, Founding General Partner
Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman
Peter B. Kellner, Richmond Global LLC, Founder & Managing Partner; Endeavor, Co-founder
William McGlashan, TPG Growth, Founder & Managing Partner
Arif Naqvi, Abraaj Capital, Founder and Group CEO
Joanna Rees, VSP Capital, Founder & Managing Partner
Linda Rottenberg, Endeavor, Co-founder & CEO
Elliot Weissbluth, HighTower Advisors, CEO & Director
James Wolfensohn (emeritus), World Bank, Former President, Wolfensohn & Co, Chairman
