About the Competition:
Any U.S.-based startup that has a service member, veteran, or military spouse on the executive team, who has raised less than $3M in funding is eligible to apply to pitch by the application deadline on Sunday, November 5th, 2023.
Apply to pitch here: https://fndri.com/100k
All applicants will be eligible to receive a "Veteran Fund Fellowship" to FI's Veteran and Military Family Accelerator. Learn more: https://fi.co/veteran
5 Finalists will be chosen to give their 5-minute pitch live at the online event on November 15th.
All 5 Finalists will be considered for investment outside the competition. They will also be invited to Silicon Valley and receive free tickets to the Plug and Play Tech Center December Summit: https://www.plugandplaytechcenter.com/events/silicon-valley-december-summit/
The pitch competition winner will receive a $100,000 investment from The Veteran Fund. Terms of the investment will be based upon the company's current financing round as an equity investment or as a SAFE Note, with the ability to invest up to $500,000.
APPLY TO PITCH HERE: https://fndri.com/100k
About the keynote, Brad Feld:
Brad Feld has been an early-stage investor and entrepreneur since 1987. Prior to co-founding Foundry Group, he co-founded Mobius Venture Capital and, prior to that, founded Intensity Ventures. Brad is also a co-founder of Techstars.
Brad is a writer and speaker on the topics of venture capital investing and entrepreneurship. He’s written a number of books as part of the Startup Revolution series and writes the blogs Feld Thoughts and Venture Deals. Brad holds Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Management Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Brad is also an art collector and long-distance runner. He has completed 25 marathons as part of his mission to finish a marathon in each of the 50 states.
Investor Panelists:
Mike Sherbakov is the Co-founder and General Partner at The Veteran Fund, a venture capital firm that invests in exceptional founders from the military community, with a focus on dual-use, national security, and defense. Mike is also the Managing Director of Founder Insitute San Diego and runs the FI Veteran and Military Family Accelerator alongside his partner, Ryan Micheletti.
Tim Hsia is the Founder and Managing Partner at Context Ventures a venture fund that invests in consumer startups and also in military veteran founders. Tim’s startup investments include Workflow (acquired by Apple), Morning Brew (acquired by Business Insider), The Hustle (acquired by HubSpot), Thredup (IPO), and Proterra (SPAC). Tim is a board member at Service to School (co-founder) and the Marine’s Memorial Association (Marine Memorial Club and Hotel in San Francisco).
Craig Cummings is a General Partner at Moonshots Capital a premier venture capital firm that actively invests in technology start-ups, many of which are founded by military veteran entrepreneurs. Craig’s current and recent board positions include Outpost, Cartwheel, Copper Labs, Shep (acq by Flight Center) Zabo (acq by Coinbase), Threatcare (acq by Reliaquest), Able, Realize Me, BTS, and Stealth Power. Craig serves on the Advisory Boards of VetsInTech, Texas Venture Labs (of the UT McCombs School of Business), and DivInc. He is also the Director of Military and Veteran Affairs for Capital Factory, Austin’s center of gravity for entrepreneurs in Texas.
Who Should Attend?
- Angel and early-stage investors looking to invest in startups
- Anyone interested in technologies and innovation from the military veteran community
- Alumni, mentors, and friends of the Founder Institute
- Anyone who wants to hear promising early-stage startups pitch live