Questions

NOVC is for companies that do not take VC funding. Individual members may oppose venture capital, feel neutral about it, or simply believe it is a poor fit for their company, product, customers, or current stage.

Members share a funding decision, not a complete worldview. NOVC represents a shared action, not a required belief.

A founder or an authorized company representative who can truthfully make the pledge on behalf of an eligible company.

Yes, provided they meet the NOVC funding standard and make the pledge.

No. NOVC permits and encourages many forms of financing, including crowdfunding, grants, loans, friends-and-family investment, employee investment, and customer funding.

The membership standard explains exactly where NOVC draws the line.

For NOVC purposes, venture capital means equity or equity-linked funding provided by a professional venture capital firm, institutional venture fund, or corporate venture arm.

Because the label on an instrument can be misleading, the standard also looks at whose money it is, whether it creates equity or conversion rights, whether the financier gains control, and whether the expected return depends on a venture-style exit.

It represents one specific commitment concerning venture capital. It is not a certification of a company’s ethics, product quality, labour practices, profitability, or any other aspect of its conduct.

A narrow promise is easier to understand and hold accountable.

No. A listing records that the company has made the pledge and remains a member in good standing. Nothing more.

NOVC relies on public commitments, member reporting, and credible reports from customers and the community. Companies that no longer qualify may have their emblem licence revoked and their registry status updated.

The pledge applies for as long as the company is a member. A company that takes venture capital must withdraw first, stop using the emblem, and disclose the change to its customers.

Only after withdrawing from the Alliance, ceasing use of the emblem, and publicly disclosing the change to its customers. The full sequence is set out under Withdrawal in the membership standard.

Funding materially changes a company’s incentives, priorities, and likely direction. Customers who relied on the NOVC signal deserve to know when that signal no longer applies.

The requirement also prevents a company from quietly deleting the emblem while avoiding accountability for the pledge it made.

Not necessarily — circumstances and strategies change, and NOVC asks for transparency rather than permanence at any cost. What NOVC does treat as a failure is leaving quietly: taking the funding while continuing to benefit from a claim that is no longer true.

Former members remain visible in the registry as withdrawn, with a link to their announcement.