Big news! It’s the first week of VC Unlocked!

We’re welcoming an awesome new group to the Stanford campus this week. They’ve traveled from as far as Lagos and Melbourne to be with us here in Silicon Valley and we couldn’t be more thrilled.

In the spirit of #500Strong, we wanted to share some fun facts about the participants and the exciting program we have planned. Here goes:

• 47% of participants are women
• 74% are based internationally, representing 17 countries including Brazil, Nigeria, Russia, Colombia, and the UAE
• Participants have made 250+ investments in total
• Areas of investment focus include FinTech, BioTech, telecom, FoodTech, and more
• Participants come from family funds, government offices, startup accelerators, and private equity backgrounds

In addition to our stellar lineup of Stanford University professors and 500 Startups partners, we’ve also recruited some of the top VCs from Silicon Valley. Guest speakers this year include Renata Quintini (Lux Capital), Jason Calacanis (INSIDE.com) Jeremy Liew (Lightspeed VP), Marlon Nichols (Cross Culture Ventures), Andy McLoughlin (SoftTech VC), and Rick Marini (Dragonfly Partners).

We’ve got a packed schedule for the next two weeks. Lecture topics run the gamut, from “Understanding Cap Tables and Ownership” to “Attracting Deal Flow,” as well as practical and action-based exercises, including founder interviews, opportunity assessments, and more.

Outside the classroom, we’ve also planned special visits to Andreesen-Horowitz, class dinners, and, drumroll please, our invite-only DemoDay!

Oh, and one more thing. We also launched a new site for VC Unlocked today!

It’s an updated visual design that showcases more information about the program, attendees, and instructors. We think it will be a great resource for prospective students and past participants alike and we’re excited to share it today. Let us know what you think!

Tune in over the next few weeks where we’ll feature guest posts from current participants as well as a fun recap that summarizes some of the key takeaways from the program’s lectures and events.