Creating Social Value in Detroit: Social Entrepreneurship Opportunities for Detroit Venture Partners’ Portfolio Firms

Abstract

The struggles of Detroit’s most underprivileged citizens have been pondered by many, but truly understood by few. Some altruistic for-profit firms have taken steps to improve the standards of living for Detroiters suffering from poverty, crime, and corruption; others have written off their plight as inevitable or self-inflicted. In this thesis, I argue that premier Detroit venture capital firm, Detroit Venture Partners, can and should assist members of its portfolio to create social initiatives that will (1) permanently and (2) positively change the lives of Detroit’s citizens. I contend that having Detroit Venture Partners invest financial resources into its portfolio for social reasons may be one potential solution to help solve the city’s shortcomings related to education, financial services, and employment. I propose that Detroit Venture Partners allocate funds specifically for social purposes to its portfolio members BoostUp, Ginkgo Tree, Grand Circus Detroit, and Quikly. Funds invested in these firms will be used to create social divisions within each of them, and ultimately they will be able to help lift Detroit’s most neglected citizens out of particularly dire economic situations. In essence, this study presents an outline for a plan that Detroit Venture Partners may use to begin investing its resources to obtain a social, rather than financial, reward.