Venture Cafe St. Louis 'temporarily' suspends programming amid shift in leadership

Venture Cafe St. Louis has paused its programming, a move that comes amid a shift in leadership of the nonprofit startup events and networking organization. 

The Venture Cafe Global Institute (VCGI), based in the Boston area, has assumed operational oversight of Venture Cafe St. Louis’ well-known weekly gatherings, VCGI told St. Louis Inno in a statement. It said the shift in management from the nonprofit board of Venture Cafe St. Louis began earlier this month. A reason for the switch was not disclosed.

A staple of the local startup ecosystem, Venture Cafe St. Louis provides programming and networking for entrepreneurs. That includes its weekly Thursday Gathering, which was held in the Cortex district prior to the arrival of Covid-19 and shifted online during the pandemic. The leadership change has “resulted in a temporary suspension” of the Thursday gathering, VCGI said. 

Venture Cafe St. Louis’ halting of its weekly events was first reported by startup news publication 4thEst8. 

Venture Café began as an idea within the Cambridge Innovation Center (CIC) in Massachusetts and now is its own enterprise, according to VCGI's website. VCGI is part of the Venture Cafe network and focuses on launching and supporting local Venture Cafe organizations across the globe.

VCGI says it would like to resume events in St. Louis this year. However, it currently doesn’t have an expected timeline for when that could happen. 

“As the operational transition continues, assessments are being made regarding the best timing for the return of the in-person Thursday Gathering program, St Louis’ flagship startup event. To ensure everyone’s health and safety, that will be decided in accordance with the latest local developments relative to the pandemic,” VCGI said in its statement.

A spokeswoman said Venture Cafe St. Louis' operations will continue to be staffed locally moving forward. However, she said Venture Cafe St. Louis Executive Director Tyler Mathews resigned his position earlier this month. 

For Venture Cafe St. Louis, the leadership transition comes as it has had to navigate the impact of the pandemic on its operations. In March 2020, Venture Cafe made a call for donations, saying cancellations of events would create significant revenue loss and put it at risk of shuttering. A week later, it said a private donor and a pair of local firms stepped forward to provide financial assistance. Meanwhile, Venture Café moved to a digital format to continue operating its weekly gatherings. In July, it hosted an in-person event as part of its newly launched “Founder Tour” series. However, a second installment of the series scheduled for Aug. 26 was cancelled a few days beforehand. 

Venture Cafe St. Louis reported total revenue of $860,944 and total expenses of $1.2 million for the year ended Dec. 31, 2019, according to its most recent IRS filing. That compares with total revenue of $2 million and total expenses of $848,712 for 2018.

Venture Cafe St. Louis isn’t the only Venture Cafe location undergoing a change in operations. In recent weeks, VCGI has said in news releases that it has also taken over management of Venture Cafe operations in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Providence, Rhode Island.