The Veteran Fund Update: Q1 2023
The Veteran Fund Update: Q1 2023
As we reflect on an eventful first quarter, we are delighted to present The Veteran Fund's Q1 update, showcasing our continued progress in the midst of a dynamic market landscape.
The recent collapse of Silicon Valley Bank sent shockwaves through the venture capital sector. We are grateful to report that The Veteran Fund had no exposure to SVB, and as a result, we and our portfolio companies have remained unaffected and continue to thrive.
We are proud of our unwavering progress and remain enthusiastic about supporting the growth of innovative ventures led by exceptional military veterans. We have strong confidence that their distinctive backgrounds and skill sets will enable them to achieve success and create significant innovations in the current global conditions.
TL;DR: We welcomed two promising new portfolio companies to The Veteran Fund tribe, successfully onboarded several world-class Limited Partners, bolstering our resources and expertise, and continue to participate in high-profile events, fostering new strategic partnerships and enhancing The Veteran Fund's presence in the ecosystem.
Thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to keeping you updated on our journey.
🚀 New Investments
Firestorm Labs is building a new category of 3D printed, fixed-wing unmanned aerial systems (UAS), which can be manufactured from base materials and deployed within 24 hours – delivering capability when and where it is needed.
This new category of modular UAS product lines promises radically affordable hardware and scalability through the use of open-system architectures and additive manufacturing. Firestorm’s products are the first completely Modular UAS that is 3D printed and payload agnostic to support our warfighters on the ground.
Firestorm was recently selected for the Eglin Wide Agile Acquisition Contract (EWAAC) Vehicle. This $46B contract allows small businesses like Firestorm to develop next-generation capabilities alongside some of the largest defense companies in the world.
The team is led by seasoned cofounder Daniel Magy, whose previous company, Citadel Defense, recently enjoyed a large exit, and Chad McCoy, USAF Chief Master Sergeant with 20+ years of military service at the highest levels of the Special Operations community. Firestorm completed several successful launches, as they continue to build a powerful team of drone and aerospace leaders.
Ask: Firestorm is looking to expand its network in the DoD ecosystem. Please forward this to anyone in your network who might be interested in connecting with their team.
Cyberspatial is a cybersecurity company led by three exceptional US military veterans with over 20 years of direct offensive and defensive cyber operations experience.
Their flagship product, Teleseer, allows cyber practitioners to save hundreds of hours of manual processes to quickly visualize and analyze the networks they serve in minutes instead of weeks, which can exponentially increase their work efficiency. The net result is a fast and easy way to gain a complete understanding of enterprise networks without needing a 7-figure cybersecurity budget.
Cyberspatial has tailwinds in the Department of Defense with a SOCOM contract and is seeking additional pilot projects with enterprise customers.
The team was co-founded by Lawrence Nunn and Ricky Tan, two of the top cybersecurity experts in the US Military. They were among the first Cyber Officers commissioned out of West Point for the US Army, with experience leading high-performance military units for 20 years, spanning combat deployments, overseeing top-secret Pentagon cyber capabilities, and leading incident response teams at US Cyber Command.
Ask: Please forward this to any cyber practitioners in your network who may be interested in an enterprise pilot.
🇺🇸 Featured Limited Partner: Mark Divine
Mark Divine is an accomplished Navy SEAL, multiple NY Times best-selling author, entrepreneur, and human performance expert. After 20 years of service and retiring as a Navy SEAL Commander, Mark founded several highly successful enterprises including SEALFIT, Unbeatable Mind, LLC, NavySEALs.com and a globally-recognized CrossFit gym. He also co-founded the Coronado Brewing Company in Coronado, CA. Mark’s integrated training system–which involve physical, mental, emotional, intuitional, and spiritual training–has yielded unprecedented outcomes and is now taught to executives and corporate teams, professional sports teams and athletes, business professionals, first responders, and warrior-leaders from all walks of life.
Mark is offering a free month of his renowned Unbeatable Mind course to The Veteran Fund community: unbeatablevet.com
📣 Announcements and Events
MilVet Conference: The Veteran Fund team participated at the Military Veteran Startup Conference in San Francisco in February, led by Tim Hsia at Context Ventures. Mike spoke on a panel of veteran-focused fund managers and we hosted a well-attended happy hour where we were joined by several LPs and supporters. We were grateful to learn from and strengthen relationships with industry leaders such as Trae Stephens (Anduril/Founders Fund), Steve Bowsher (In-Q-Tel), and Raj Shah (Shield Capital). The conference was one of the best gatherings of military veterans in the tech industry and is a “must-go” event for any founder or investor in the veteran startup ecosystem. Tickets will sell out next year, so make sure you sign up early to attend the Military Veteran Startup 2024 Conference.
The State of the Global Investment Community, featuring the CEO of Angel Capital Association: Join General Partner Ryan Micheletti and Pat Gouhin, CEO of the Angel Capital Association, for an interactive event to discuss The State of the Global Investment Ecosystem. Register here.
Lake Nona Impact Forum with Deepak Chopra and Global Innovation Leaders: Mike, Justin, and several of our LPs attended the Lake Nona Impact Forum in Florida, which is an invitation-only summit that brings together 300 of the nation’s premier CEOs, healthcare innovators, and global thought leaders. In addition to Deepak, speakers included industry leaders in the venture capital, family office, and technology sectors.
Founder Institute Veteran and Military Family Accelerator: A new cohort of our startup accelerator kicked off the Spring 2023 cohort, led by GP Mike Sherbakov, with 48 founders. The Founder Institute’s rigorous program will graduate the top 10 in June 2023.
Is there a veteran startup founder in your network you would like to recommend for a scholarship? Learn more and apply for our Fall 2023 cohort here: fi.co/veteran
🎉 New Tribe Members
Ken McElroy
Founder: MC Companies
$3B in real estate assets, author, and business partner to Robert Kiyosaki
Resides: Scottsdale, Arizona
Chuck Heath
Founder: Horizon Design
Entrepreneur and investor with specialties in multi-family and resort projects
Resides: Park City, Utah
📈 Portfolio Company Updates
Lonestar is a space tech company that is building data centers and communication infrastructure on the lunar surface.
Lonestar closed their oversubscribed $5M Seed Round!
Generating first revenues for storage and edge processing customers under contract.
NASA changed date of first mission from March to June and will now be going to the moon’s South Pole.
Ask: Lonestar will be opening their Series A later this year. If you would like to connect with Chris Stott, Lonestar’s CEO, please reply back to this email.
Stitch3D (formerly Candelytics) is an enterprise 3D data company that delivers best-in-class 3D data analytics, workflows, and collaboration tools through its cloud-based 3D data management platform.
Stitch3D has opened their $3M Seed Round.
Take a look at their Product Demo to see 3D data in action.
Established pilot projects with the USAF and nine beta customers.
Ask: Stitch3D is seeking additional enterprise pilots. If you know anyone in the drone, 3D printing, augmented reality, 3D scanning, or intel/surveillance communities, please forward this to them.
Pixly is a Software as a Service (SaaS) technology platform for construction sites and facilities that leverages smart device photo collaboration and AI-enabled organizational tools to document project progress and mitigate risk from conflicts, delays, and safety issues.
Strong revenue opportunities. Paid customers include All State Insurance and a 10-year Sharp Hospital project.
CEO, Lee Mills, will be competing in a $400K pitch competition at eMerge Americas on April 20 - 21 in Miami. Shout out to Venture Partner, Carlos Romero, for the opportunity.
Ask: Pixly is seeking introductions to building owners, architects, construction companies, and facility managers.
Clusiv is the leading technology platform that empowers blind and partially sighted people to obtain meaningful careers through digital training and employment opportunities.
Clusiv is driving new revenue and growing 20% month-over-month.
CEO, Lukas Simianer was featured in a full segment on Austin’s NBC affiliate.
Ask: Clusiv is seeking additional PR opportunities to expand their reach to empower more blind and partially sighted people.
Instant Teams is the leading military spouse community and talent marketplace that leverages innovative technology and a focus on skills-based hiring to create dynamic talent and outsourcing solutions for employers and remote careers for military spouses.
Launched their “Twelve Million Plus,” mobile application, which is the first and only verified community for military spouses.
Ask: Seeking additional enterprise customers and expanding their footprint across more military installations. Want to hire military spouses? Join Instant Teams here.
Our enthusiasm for supporting our expanding portfolio of companies has only intensified as we accelerate into Q2, and we are grateful for your steadfast support.
In spite of the headlines and market turbulence, there has never been a more opportune moment to invest in resilient founders who are dedicated to building impactful companies. We are proud to be a part of this journey, fostering innovation and growth during these challenging times.
We encourage you to share our one-pager with anyone who aligns with our mission or is aware of an exceptional startup that matches our investment thesis.
With gratitude,
Mike, Ryan, Lisa, and Justin | The Veteran Fund
The Veteran Fund Update: November 2022
With Veterans Day approaching, we’re overwhelmed with gratitude for the support we received from our tribe last week in Las Vegas at the Military Influencer Conference, where we hosted our second annual $100,000 Veteran Pitch Competition. Please take a moment to watch the highlight video below.
TL;DR: Our tribe is growing quickly based on our shared values. We’re pleased to welcome a new portfolio company to our community and global leader Dr. Deepak Chopra as a Limited Partner and mindfulness advisor. Equally exciting, our existing portfolio companies continue to hit key milestones and rack up awards.
As we discussed on our recent Venture Partner call, we deeply believe that venture capital can be used to protect our country’s future and values during these turbulent times. Based on the feedback shared about our time together in Las Vegas, we know many share our vision.
We had an incredible few days in Las Vegas bringing together our Veteran Fund tribe for a special dinner hosted by First Republic Bank. We were joined by our Limited Partners, Venture Partners, Navy SEALs, Green Berets, and three billionaire thought leaders in the business arena. For those who attended, we cannot thank you enough for bringing The Veteran Fund values to life. The energy was a force to be reckoned with. For those who could not join us, we can’t wait to welcome you next time.
The picture above, from our team dinner, will be sent to the moon, along with the Declaration of Independence, in portfolio company Lonestar’s upcoming mission.
Mike Sherbakov, Lisa Song Sutton, Lee Mills, Monica Fullerton, and Congressman Dan Crenshaw
We welcomed an extraordinary panel of judges and our guest, Congressman Dan Crenshaw, for our second annual $100,000 Pitch Competition. The five very-talented finalists pitched live in Las Vegas to Mike, Ryan, Guy Filippelli (Squadra Ventures), Tim Hsia (Context VC), Mark Rockefeller (Second Service Foundation) and Liz OBrien (TFX Capital). After several rounds of fierce competition with more than 120 founder applicants, Pixly, led by Navy Veteran Lee Mills, was crowned the winner.
Congratulations to all teams involved! We’re thrilled to welcome Lee and Pixly to our community.
Led by seasoned Navy Veteran founder, Lee Mills, Pixly won our 2022 Veteran Pitch Contest! Pixly helps construction and facility project managers save time and money by making it easy to snap, tag, & collaborate on project photos instantly from anywhere. Pixly streamlines construction management workflows by consolidating manual processes through the power of AI, data, and dashboards, which helps reduce the overall risk of project build disputes. Learn more about Pixly in the short video here.
We are excited to welcome Dr. Deepak Chopra as an official Limited Partner at The Veteran Fund! Our core values of leadership, resilience, and purpose are rooted in mindfulness. General Partner, Justin Nahama, is leading a retreat in Dubai this month with Deepak, several Veteran Fund tribe members, and well-being leaders from around the world. We will continue to invite our tribe members to more of these exclusive opportunities and experiences.
Experts Say to Invest In Emerging Managers. Brand-name growth funds may dominate the headlines, but an industry secret is that the best return profile in venture capital has historically been produced by the newcomers and at the early stages of investing. Data from Cambridge Associates shows that new and developing firms are consistently among the top 10 performers in the asset class, accounting for 72% of the top returning firms. Source: Forbes
Instant Teams is proud to announce they are #208 on this year’s Inc. 5000 list! Liza Rodewald and Erica McMannes are the only active-duty military spouses in the Inc. 5000 Class of 2022, growing their company a staggering 2,572% over the past three years! Additionally, Instant Teams was the Diamond Sponsor of the Military Influencer Conference where Erica and Liza received the honor of being listed in the Mighty 25 of military influencers. As part of the conference, The Veteran Fund has committed to hire a Military Spouse through Instant Teams and we invite our community to do so as well. Please reach out to us if you would like to connect with Instant Teams to hire a military spouse or learn more here.
Clusiv closed its $2.25M Seed Round led by ECMC with participation from Western Governors University, Jobs for the Future Fund, Strada Education, Techstars, The Fund Austin, and 550 Capital! This is our first portfolio markup and a great milestone for the fund! Clusiv is now approved in 7 states (MO, VT, IN, CA, TN and PA in September) with ongoing discussions in CA and NY. Thanks to Venture Partner Jason Pessemier, Clusiv is also actively meeting with Microsoft leadership to explore partnership opportunities.
Candelytics won the DataHub Innovation Pitch competition at the DefenseTech Summit in Washington, DC. They had a successful visit to MacDill Air Force Base (despite the hurricane) and completed milestones for both SBIR and STTR. The team is fired up to have their commercial shipping proof of concept pilot that will launch in November. They are currently seeking customer discovery opportunities in insurance, maritime engineering, and aerospace, including partnership or sub-contracting opportunities with government prime contractors.
The Lonestar Lunar team is hard at work gearing up for their first two missions. Lonestar’s first flight to the moon, the “Independence Mission,” will occur in March 2023. Lonestar is working closely with its partners at Cape Canaveral in support of the mission and recently received a signed contract from the State of Florida as they continue to build a customer base. Lonestar also continues to make progress on its payload hardware, which is entering vibration and thermal testing at NASA’s center in Mountain View. There is a small allocation left and Lonestar welcomes introductions to any investors to close out its Seed Financing round.
Despite the headlines and market turmoil, there has never been a better time to be an early-stage founder building a meaningful company and there has never been a better time to be an investor, like The Veteran Fund, backing these resilient founders.
We’re grateful for your continued support and look forward to doing great things together!
- Mike, Ryan, Lisa, and Justin | The Veteran Fund
