The Veteran Fund is a venture capital firm that invests in high-growth technology startups led by founders from the military community. The Veteran Fund focuses on investments in the technology and defense sectors.

The Veteran Fund

Veteran Ventures Capital (VVC) is a veteran-owned growth-equity investment fund & firm focused on veteran businesses. VVC interacts exclusively with companies that have military veteran leadership, recognizing the value of military experience, training, and character in business operations. VVC’s team is comprised of distinguished former military officers and seasoned financial experts from across the country. Our value proposition lies in our granular understanding of the military culture, significant connections within the federal government & defense industry, and working knowledge of the government procurement process.

Our differentiators are people and dealflow. We have a veteran team with deep expertise at the intersection of private capital and security.  Our people have an exceptional track record in private enterprise with multiple billion-dollar exits.  We also have decades as public servants at highest leadership levels in government (all the way to the White House). Our dealflow is quite unique:  cross-referencing government and quasi-government groups, military-centric partnerships, and our private network gives us a deal pipeline unlike any you'll find. The market opportunity is huge: veteran leadership has set the precedence and been the backbone of our country for 70+ years (founders like Wal-Mart, FedEx, U-Haul, Kinder Morgan, RE/MAX, GoDaddy, Enterprise, etc., the list goes on).  The government invests billions in developing our military:  now with greater technology, greater investment from the government, and greater educational opportunities -- their leadership is more poised than ever to take businesses to the next level. They just need the proper access to capital, and that's Veteran Ventures Capital.

Veteran Ventures Capital

A well deserved recognition for our portfolio company Cambium as they continue to scale in the region.  Onward and Upward!

Our firm has had the pleasure to meet several of the recent cohort of Bass Scholars in the Vanderbilt MBA program.  An outstanding opportunity to come to Nashville and add skill sets and expand your network in a vibrant, fast changing landscape that is Nashville.

Joshua Weed out in the wild connecting dots and sharing his experience.  He has been holding down the fort in the NCR for Veteran Ventures Capital the past few years.  He will soon be joined by Derren Burrell as he moves in the coming weeks.  Onward and Upward…

Are you a veteran or military spouse-owned startup looking for an incredible opportunity to showcase your startup? Here’s your chance!

VetsinTech is hosting a pitch contest for veteran or military spouse-owned early-stage technology startups sponsored JPMorganChase. Submit your application before August 31, 2024 for a chance to win the following:

🏆 1st Place: $25,000 
🥈 2nd Place: $10,000 
🥉 3rd Place: $5,000

👉 More info: https://lnkd.in/eAjzVDCc
👉 Submit Here: https://lnkd.in/ebDj4zMq 

Don’t miss this chance to pitch in front of VCs and technology leaders from VetsinTech’s partner ecosystem. 

**𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝!**

cc: Katherine Webster, Ikram Mansori, Oliver Muoto, Craig Newmark,..

#Vetsintech #PitchContest #VC #Veterans #Milspouses #Startups

Amidst a challenging venture capital climate in 2024, the defense technology sector continues to thrive, as evidenced by PitchBook's analysis and the accompanying Fast Company article. In 2022, $35.8B was invested across 800 deals, and 2023 saw $34.9B across 627 deals. So far in 2024, $9.1B has already been invested in 228 deals 🚀.

Exits are booming, with 35 worth $8.3B halfway through 2024, compared to 39 worth $2.2B in all of 2023. Defense primes are rapidly acquiring smaller tech companies, spending $5.2B across 36 deals this year.

At Veteran Ventures Capital, our team has supported our Fund I portfolio companies towards securing over $130M in non-dilutive government funding, significantly de-risking our investments and providing tech development pathways alongside government and industry partners. Importantly, these pathways provide the opportunity for our and other dual-use tech companies to rapidly field advanced capabilities to our warfighters. 

As a result of our team’s expertise, paired with the grit and determination of our Fund I founders and veteran leaders, we have had tremendous success in our Fund II raise, proudly announcing our first close of $25M, halfway to target of $50M, in June. 

Onward and upward 💥.

Article link:
https://hubs.la/Q02HJS3n0

Explore our portfolio and impact within the dual-use national security technology space:
https://hubs.la/Q02HJRY00

#veteranventures #vvc #defensetech #dualusetech #nationalsecurity #veteranleaders

This recently published #RAND report on how the Space Force can enhance it's S&T processes is absolutely worth the read for any venture capitalist investing in the space vertical, any space company wanting to work with the DoD, or any DoD leader wondering how to leverage more private participation into space-based national security initiatives.  As a Pardee-RAND Graduate School alum myself, it's refreshing to see RAND continues to apply exacting analytic techniques to hard policy questions.  

In addition to the numerous excellent suggestions made by the authors, I'd add my own pet rock to this list--the DoD (most suitably #SpaceWerx, but also possibly Space Safari or Space RCO) must create an operational demonstration process for new space technologies to get heritage.  The non-space DoD has dozens of exercises, training opportunities and technology demonstration forums where the warfighter can use or observe new technology in action. For the price of a road trip or an airplane ride, a start-up can show off the capabilities of their new technology to hundreds of earth-bound warfighters, get rapid and thorough feedback, and get exposure to multiple prime integrators. 

There is no such equivalent in space.  

As a result, the non-space warfighter enjoys a much more rapid uptake of new technology and derives much more benefit from the US's massive strategic edge in innovation.

#SDA's recently announced HALO effort is a step in the right direction, whereby SDA sponsors a periodic satellite launch with the only mission being to host new technologies that USSF finds interesting and useful.  However, space innovation organizations may be better suited to set up long-term programs.  I'd propose that SPACEWERX offers a program that each successful SBIRII or TACFI they sponsor can apply for a HALO-like operational demonstration opportunity.  These programs are far too meager to ever get a launch has part of the program.  A dedicated "innovation launch" every 3-6 months, putting multiple new technologies on a single satellite, would get dozens of new technologies past the "heritage" moat that keeps so many promising technologies out of the hands of the warfighter.

I've long been a big proponent of well-designed public-private partnerships, the use of CRADAs, and other such structures whereby the private sector and the DoD work together.  The US has deeper private capital markets than the rest of the world combined, and the US should leverage that for strategic national security advantage.  Put another way, venture capital represents an entire second defense R&D budget the warfighter can make use of.  RAND suggests some very sound policy initiatives that would result in the private sector putting more resources into space national security initiatives.

#innovation #VC #VVC #space #nationalsecurity #SDA #RCO #SpaceCouncil #SpaceEconomy #SpaceSafari #RGS

FUND:VETERAN

The Veteran Fund