Built without venture capital
NOVC is a public pledge for founders building companies without VC funding.
Members commit to remaining venture-independent while they belong to the NOVC Alliance. In return, they may display the NOVC emblem and be listed in the public NOVC registry.
A simple, visible commitment
The NOVC emblem tells customers, employees, and fellow founders something concrete:
This company has chosen not to accept venture capital.
It does not tell you why. Every founder has their own reasons, and no member is expected to endorse every argument against VC funding.
For some, independence is a business strategy. For others, it is about product quality, ethics, authenticity, sustainability, or simply building on their own terms.
NOVC brings those founders together around one shared commitment — not one shared ideology.
The NOVC Pledge
As a member of the NOVC Alliance:
We have not accepted venture capital and commit not to accept venture capital while participating in the NOVC Alliance.
We may display the NOVC emblem only while this commitment remains true.
If we decide to accept venture capital, we will withdraw from the NOVC Alliance, stop using its emblem, and request removal from its registry.
We will also inform our customers through an email or a public announcement. That communication will clearly disclose the funding and explicitly state that we are withdrawing from the NOVC Alliance.
There is more than one way to build a company
The startup industry tends to present a single path: raise money, grow as quickly as possible, raise more money, and work toward an exit.
That path works for some companies. It is not the only path.
Companies can also grow through sales, services, savings, loans, grants, crowdfunding, and the support of employees, families, and communities.
NOVC exists to make that choice visible.
Bootstrapped does not mean alone
NOVC is anti-VC, not anti-capital. It is not a contest to see who can build a company with the least money or outside help.
Building a durable company can require savings, community support, credit, grants, outside expertise, and creative financing. The NOVC line is not “founders must do everything alone.” The line is accepting institutional equity capital structured around venture-scale returns.
What members receive
The NOVC emblem
Members may display the NOVC emblem on their website, product, documentation, or other public materials while they remain eligible. The emblem is a recognizable signal that the company has made the NOVC Pledge.
A place in the registry, if you want one
Members may list their company in the public NOVC registry. A listing carries the company name and description, a website link, and the date the pledge was made.
Two things are left entirely to you. You need not disclose your funding model — say as much or as little as you like — and you need not give your reasons for joining. Nor do you have to appear in the registry at all: some members would rather display the emblem than be catalogued, and that is a perfectly ordinary way to belong.
A community of independent builders
NOVC helps customers discover venture-independent companies and helps founders find peers building under similar constraints. Members do not need to share the same politics, business model, growth ambitions, or criticism of venture capital. The common ground is the pledge.
Make your independence visible
Plenty of solid companies are built without venture capital. Most have no particular way of saying so, and the choice stays invisible to the customers it affects.
Take the NOVC Pledge and put the emblem where your customers can see it.