Mike Sherbakov for The Veteran Fund | Funding great startups led by our nation's heroes.

We’re excited to announce our first three investments as we begin the year. Please find details below on portfolio companies Instant Teams, Clusiv, and Candelytics. Each company is led by a veteran or military spouse, further reinforcing our conviction in our investment thesis. We’re fired up to get to work! 

We held our first Venture Partner call on April 1 to collaborate and build the veteran startup ecosystem. We are grateful to have an extraordinary team of venture partners who share our passion for redefining the veteran post-service ecosystem.

• GP Ryan Micheletti is hosting a live, global event titled, “How to Raise a $13M Series A, featuring Liza Rodewald, CEO of Instant Teams” in the wake of their Series A. If interested, you can register here: https://fi.co/e/282245 

• On June 3, The Veteran Fund will be attending the VetVC Summit in New York, hosted by JP Morgan Chase, which is the first-of-its-kind initiative to acknowledge, support, and connect veteran-founded venture capital firms to a broader ecosystem.

• As part of our mission to vertically integrate the veteran startup ecosystem, we are proud to announce the Vet-Tech Virtual Accelerator program, powered by Founder Institute San Diego. As part of this program, veteran founders will receive special fellowship admission, led by GP Mike Sherbakov. Learn more here http://FI.co/veteran

In March, the Veteran Fund made its first investment into veteran-spouse founded company Instant Teams. The $13M Series A was led by Tiger Global, a global leader in the investment arena. Instant Teams, a Founder Institute and Vet-Tech alumni, is the premier hiring source for military spouses and veterans with explosive growth. Their success to date validates our investment thesis both in terms of Founder Institute resources and the power of veteran families continuing to serve veterans after their service. Liza Rodewald and Erica McMannes are fantastic leaders and founders. Big shout out to Squadra Ventures who led their Seed Round and joined the Series A!

• Ask: Instant Teams is aiming to hire 10,000 spouses and Veterans within the next three years. To achieve this, they are seeking partnerships at the Department of Labor, top “Morale, Welfare and Recreation” (MWR) / “Non-Appropriated Funds” (NAF) Leaders at the National Guard, Air Force and Navy, as well as HQ contacts for Army and Air Force Exchange Services (AAAFES) and Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA). Please consider forwarding this email to any warm introductions who can help establish these partnerships, or to veteran families seeking remote work opportunities.

The Veteran Fund’s second investment is in Clusiv, the world's first e-learning platform for the visually impaired and blind communities. CEO, Lukas Simianer, is a decorated Army Veteran who is on a mission to enable organizations to hire & train visually impaired persons for technical positions at scale. Clusiv is a recent Techstars Alumni from Taylor McLemore’s Future of Work Accelerator, where they received double the investment that Techstars’ graduates traditionally receive.  

• Ask: Clusiv is partnering with government and enterprises to create economic opportunities for the visually impaired. They are seeking introductions to Directors of Vocational Rehabilitation and/or Blind Services Division at state agencies. Please pass along this email if you know someone who can help.

Our third investment is Candelytics, the winner of the $100,000 Veteran Pitch Competition, hosted by the Veteran Fund on Veterans Day 2021 (watch the recording here). Candelytics is building the future of 3D data visualization and analytics for national security and commercial customers. They recently secured $1.5M in government contracts through AFWERX, the Air Force’s innovation arm, and are starting a pilot with the US Air Force. 

• Ask: Candelytics' solution can be deployed in a variety of construction and building environments. They are actively seeking relationships with “horizontal construction companies,” ideally superintendents from state/local governments and contractors who maintain bridges, roads, dams, etc. Additionally, they are exploring monetization through insurance companies and are interested in connecting with claims adjusters. Please pass along this email if you know someone who can help.

We’re grateful for your continued support and look forward to doing great things together!

- Ryan, Lisa, Justin, and Mike