The 3rd Annual Entrepreneur Games took place at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center in Roxbury, Massachusetts
On June 25, several Bain Capital Ventures employees supported the 3rd Annual Entrepreneur Games to raise funds for BUILD, an organization that uses mentorship and entrepreneurship to excite and propel disengaged, low-income students through high school to college success. The event, which featured local companies and entrepreneurs from across Boston competing in athletic games, raised more than $115,000 for BUILD.
More than 800 members of the Boston entrepreneur community participated in the games, including Bain Capital Ventures’ Scott Friend, Tommy Patek, Ryan Hrabak, Steve Anastos and Noah Carr. This year’s games featured more than 35 different challenges, ranging from volleyball to laser tag. The games were established in 2013 to combine team-building, excitement and fun to support Boston’s youth, with 100% of the proceeds supporting BUILD Boston.
"Whether it’s rolling around in a human hamster ball or playing tug of war, the Entrepreneur Games continues to create bonds in the community and connect hundreds of folks to the amazing volunteer opportunities with BUILD. Our team is fortunate to participate in such a fun and inspirational event," said Tommy Patek.
Bain Capital’s involvement with BUILD began when Managing Directors Ajay Agarwal and Scott Friend, along with former Operating Partner Jeff Glass, took on the task of establishing BUILD’s Boston presence. To create the structure needed to support the region, Ajay, Scott and Jeff helped raise the initial startup costs and recruited and hired for key roles.
When Ajay moved to the west coast to launch Bain Capital Ventures’ Palo Alto office in 2011, he also continued his role with BUILD by becoming Chair of their National Board of Directors. In June 2015, Ajay stepped down as Board Chair but will continue to make an impact at BUILD as a National Board member. Ajay was recently honored as the outgoing Board Chair with a new $150,000 fund for BUILD students established in his name. The Ajay Agarwal Honorary Fund is dedicated to further enhancing the BUILD program while serving more students nationally.
"Since Ajay joined the Board, BUILD has gone from serving 300 students to over 1,400 students and 750 business teams. BUILD’s budget has also grown from $1.7 million to over $10 million," said Suzanne McKechnie Klahr, BUILD’s CEO and Founder. "Ajay has made countless contributions to BUILD over the years, but his biggest charge as Board Chair was to push us to develop a sustainable revenue model to make the organization less beholden to philanthropy. We launched a pilot fee for service model this year and it has been wildly successful. This is the first step to our being a truly sustainable organization."
