On June 23, 2016, six Bain Capital associates participated in the BUILD in Boston Entrepreneur Games at the Roxbury Community Center in downtown Boston. Self-dubbed the "hottest team-building event of the summer for Boston's tech venture capital and start-up companies," 100% of the proceeds from the Entrepreneur Games go to BUILD in Boston, an organization dedicated to using entrepreneurship and experiential learning to ignite the potential of youth in under-resourced communities and equip them for high-school, college and career success. This year, the event raised $200,000, an all-time high for the organization.
More than 1,000 members of the Boston entrepreneur community participated in the games, split up in to teams named for different countries. Bain Capital associates were members of team South Africa, along with BUILD mentors, students and other Boston companies like Skedaddle. Participants competed in over 40 games, from team events like kickball, volleyball and tug-of-war, to individual events like Dance Dance Revolution, corn hole and ping pong.
Of the event and the organization, Bain Capital Ventures Finance Associate Jason Morris said, "I think the reason BUILD is so powerful is because it's one of the only organization in the greater Boston area that links real world, business-building goals with the power of education. That unique vision resonates with me, given a personal interest in entrepreneurship as a vehicle to not only change industries but also the lives of everyone that they touch."
Bain Capital's involvement with BUILD began when Managing Directors Ajay Agarwal and Scott Friend took on the task of establishing BUILD's Boston presence. To create the structure needed to support the region, Ajay and Scott helped raise the initial startup costs, and recruited and hired for key roles, including regional executive director, Ayele Skahur.
Scott is now a member of the Executive Committee in Boston and Ajay continues to make an impact at BUILD as a National Board member. Ryan Hrabak and Chris MacNaughton of Bain Capital Ventures also volunteer with BUILD in Boston regularly.
This fall, BUILD is launching in New York City, where Bain Capital Ventures associates Steven Anastos and Tommy Patek are anchoring the junior advisor board and will lead mentorship programs.
