Military Veteran Founder Showcase

Join us for an exclusive online event where five outstanding US Military Veteran startup founders will pitch their innovative companies to a panel of investors and venture capitalists. These Founders represent some of the best new companies from the Founder Institute network, all actively raising capital. Whether you’re an aspiring entrepreneur, an investor, or simply passionate about startups, this event offers a unique opportunity to see the future of innovation coming out of the US Military Veteran community.

**❯ Why Attend?**

* **Pitch Presentations:** Watch 5 top-tier veteran startup founders showcase their companies.
* **Investor Panel:** Our panel features highly respected venture capitalists who will provide insightful feedback.
* **Learn and Network:** Gain valuable insights into what investors look for in a startup and connect with entrepreneurs and industry leaders.

**❯ Investor Panel:**

* **Mike Sherbakov serves as General Partner at The Veteran Fund**, a pre-seed venture capital firm in Silicon Valley, and Managing Director of Southern California’s Founder Institute, the world’s largest early-stage startup accelerator.
* **Emily McMahan is the Deputy Director at Common Mission Project and General Partner at Academy Investor Network,** a seed-stage venture fund and investment syndicate of graduates from the U.S. military service academies.
* **Ryan Micheletti** **is Head of Global Operations for the Founder Institute** and a General Partner at The Veteran Fund. He has helped launch thousands of startups worldwide and actively invests in veteran-led startups.
* **Brendan Aronson** **is the CEO of The Military Veteran**, a veteran-focused recruiting agency for PE firms, and an Associate at Context Ventures, an early-stage VC firm that invests in veteran founders.

**❯ Startup Pitch List:**

* **Arena Labs** is dedicated to advancing human potential by decoding the practices of world-class athletes, and elite military forces, tailoring them for frontline medical professionals. Their platform, Arena Strive, is healthcare’s first performance coach, showing clinicians how to excel in high-pressure situations in just 5 minutes a day, and using predictive performance analytics for hospitals. Deployed in health systems across the US, including Advocate Health System, the Hospital for Special Surgery, Dignity Health, and the Defense Health Agency, Arena Strive aims to triple its clinician-user population by 2025 and expand to the 144,000-person military health service.
* **EMPEQ** helps energy auditors make site surveys 80% more efficient through their flagship product, Fast Site Survey™, which combines One-Click Capture™ of detailed, accurate building equipment data with customizable forms and templates.
* **Bugle** is revolutionizing volunteering and charitable giving by increasing transparency. With Americans donating nearly half a trillion dollars annually, 81% of donors worry about their impact. Bugle empowers non-profits to manage their volunteer workforce and allows donors to give directly to global actions and receive ‘impact updates’ after each event, quantifying their contributions. Bugle has rapidly gained traction, with over 150 nonprofits, including Special Olympics Utah, Purple Heart Homes, and More Perfect Union, adopting the platform, which is now used in five countries.
* **Polaris Genomics** is mapping the biological underpinnings of mental health to advance the development of objective diagnostic tools and novel therapeutics for a range of conditions, including PTSD, depression, anxiety, ADHD, TBI, and substance use disorder. Originally founded to address the mental health crisis that led to 22 veteran and service member suicides daily, Polaris Genomics’ first clinical product is a blood test that screens for PTSD. Veteran founded, Polaris Genomics is a graduate of the Illumina Accelerator program and a JLABS portfolio company.

**❯❯ This is a live, interactive online event, so be sure to RSVP at [https://fi.co/e/337778/meetup](https://fi.co/e/337778/meetup) to receive the Zoom URL to join us live!**