Member Spotlight: The Veteran Fund
For this deep dive, we spoke to The Veteran Fund.
Tell us about your firm. What makes it different?
The Veteran Fund is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in high-growth technology startups with US military veterans on the leadership team.
We believe the US Military is the greatest leadership academy in the world, and when you combine that leadership prowess with domain expertise, you have the DNA of a super founder who will lead their startups to success.
The Veteran Fund is community-driven and has assembled a world-class group of LPs from the military, business, and mindfulness communities, including Four Star General Stan McChrystal, global mindfulness leader Deepak Chopra, and the Kraft Family, owner of the New England Patriots. This allows us to crowd-source knowledge, resources, and networks from our community to help support the founders we invest in.
One of our portfolio companies, Lonestar Lunar, which is building data centers on the Moon, was one of the first commercial companies to land on the moon in February during the IM-1 Mission. The Veteran Fund sponsored the Declaration of Independence as the first document to be sent to the Moon for storage. Our message is that the future of humanity is rooted in innovation, and innovation is maximized through liberty. Therefore, liberty must be advanced for humanity to unlock its potential.
What defines your portfolio?
Our mission is to advance America through venture capital. This deep, meaningful mission inspires and unites our GPs, LPs, and portfolio companies to a larger purpose, which maximizes collaboration opportunities across our network. We are interested in Deep Tech, Dual-Use, National Security, Defense, and Enterprise startups and invest through the lens of “How is this company advancing America?”
Tell us about the current VC landscape in your geography/region.
We are a national firm, with GPs residing in Silicon Valley, San Diego, and Las Vegas. AI is hot right now in Silicon Valley but we believe there is a lot of noise and the long tail of these companies will be disrupted in the near future. Our Dual-use thesis acts as a hedge against AI because the ability to acquire government contracts is a defensive moat that most companies are not looking at, but can be fruitful for extending runways and increasing valuations.
What are the benefits of being an NVCA member?
We’ve enjoyed many benefits from being an NVCA member. The most important benefits include constant representation on Capitol Hill to defend the Venture Capital industry, which is critical for national security. We also enjoy the community and network that we have been able to tap into to support our growth as a firm.
What’s ahead for your firm?
For our GP team, The Veteran Fund is our life’s work. Our goal is to build The Veteran Fund into a 100-year institution, funding the best founders and innovation our country has to offer. Our final close for Fund I is July 4th 2024. After, we will deploy capital into an additional 15 companies.
