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In honor of U.S. Veterans Day, the Founder Institute is hosting our first-ever $100,000 Veteran Pitch Competition!

Applications were open to any U.S.-based company that (1) has an Active Service Member, Veteran, or Military Spouse on the Executive team, and (2) has raised less than $2MM in funding. After receiving pitch entry applications from more than 130+ veteran entrepreneurs, just seven finalists were selected to pitch live in the final event.

The winner of the live pitch event finale on Wednesday, November 17th, as chosen by the panel of distinguished investor judges below, will be offered the $100,000 investment from the Founder Institute’s partner for this event.

Without further ado, we proudly present the $100k Veteran Pitch Competition Finalists: 

Anyone interested in technology companies or the veteran business community is welcome to RSVP to attend the event for free, and watch as these promising Veteran and Military Spouse-founded startups pitch live to investors for a chance to be offered the $100,000 investment.


The chosen panel of investor judges for the competition finale include: 

  • Mike Sherbakov - CEO of Greatness Collective and General Partner at The Veteran Fund
  • Emily McMahan - Deputy Director at Common Mission Project and Co-Founder & General Partner at Academy Investor Network
  • James Africano - Startup Advisor, National Security Investor, Air Force Reserve Officer, and currently a Partner at Regolith Ventures
  • Taylor Mclemore - Founder & Board Director for Patriot Boot Camp & Managing Director at TechStars


In addition, there will be several networking sessions to connect with others from around the world. The event will be attended by hundreds of angels, venture capitalists, and entrepreneurs, and feature an inspiring talk from a soon-to-be-announced keynote speaker. Join us in honoring our veterans to help advance their companies forward!

Good luck to those founders who enter the competition, and we hope to see you there.

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