Launched in 1997, Endeavor has established a presence in nearly 40 markets across Latin America, Asia, Africa, Middle East, and underserved areas of Europe and the United States.
Back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when barriers to entrepreneurship were nearly insurmountable outside a few limited areas — most notably Silicon Valley — Endeavor focused on stimulating global entrepreneurial activity by providing mentorship to innovative founders based in emerging markets.
Endeavor has evolved over two decades to reflect new realities and new opportunities.
First, as our local markets mature, Endeavor is able to home in on high-impact entrepreneurs who are further along on the path to success: the ones leading scaleups, not startups.
Second, Endeavor now also operates in underserved areas of Europe and the United States. While these more “developed” markets may be more hospitable to startups, their entrepreneurs still lack access to global capital, networks, and markets necessary to scale.
Third, in 2012 we introduced Endeavor Catalyst, a rules-based co-investment fund that provides equity capital at the venture and growth stages to qualifying Endeavor Entrepreneurs. Endeavor Catalyst allows us to financially support our entrepreneurs while simultaneously providing competitive returns for investors and paving the path for Endeavor’s core non-profit operating model to become financially self-sustaining in the most mission-aligned way.
In 2012, Mareva Grabowski launched Endeavor Greece, the first office of the organization in Europe.
