Mike Sherbakov 7/13/23 Mike Sherbakov 7/13/23

The Veteran Fund Update: Q2 2023

Independence Day holds special significance for our tribe of military veterans and families. This occasion serves as a powerful reminder of The Veteran Fund's mission and the great potential we possess when we stand united together.

Many of our nation's Founding Fathers were veterans who, anchored by courage and unwavering resolve, created the United States, whose core tenants of freedom and individual liberty have unlocked human potential on a global scale.

Emboldened by this legacy, The Veteran Fund is dedicated to building a greater society by uniting and empowering the veteran community through mindful entrepreneurship. Our ambition extends beyond driving innovation and financial returns for our partners. We are committed to upholding and propagating the foundational values and liberties of our nation, aiming to empower future generations of Americans and our allies.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”

In this spirit, we are honored to share an article written by one of our tribe members titled, “A New Tribe is Born.”

In our update below, we are excited to announce a new investment, highlight our participation in several high-profile events, and share portfolio company updates.

Let’s go!

🚀 New Investment

We are proud to welcome Proteus Space to The Veteran Fund portfolio! Proteus designs and builds ESPA-class satellites & space “buses” for commercial and government customers to help America win the new space race.

Using proprietary algorithms and a revolutionary new kind of additive manufacturing (3D printing) Proteus’ methodology rapidly automates a very human-intensive satellite design process that will deliver a 12:1 time reduction and a 4:1 cost reduction, rapidly producing satellites at scale.

The increasing demand to proliferate new technology into space is severely limited by the cost and build time, with buses in this product range typically taking ~3 years to design and build. Proteus has the mission to turn 36 months into 3 months.

Proteus is servicing both commercial customers and the largest customer in the world, the US Government, with a large pipeline of contracts. The $4M Round was led by Moonshots Capital, a partner of The Veteran Fund. Shout out to Craig Cummings and Kelly Perdew who have paved the way for veteran entrepreneurs and venture capitalists for over a decade.

Ask: Proteus is looking to expand its network in the DoD ecosystem. Please forward this to anyone in your network who might be interested in connecting with their team.

🇺🇸 Featured Limited Partner: Mike Fraser

Mike Fraser is a US Air Force veteran, exited founder, advisor, and the first Limited Partner in The Veteran Fund.

Mike sold his company, Refactr, to Sophos in 2021, where he is now their VP of DevSecOps. Mike’s journey as a founder was one of the reasons we started The Veteran Fund.

During the early years of his company, there was a lack of capital being allocated to military veteran founders at the earliest stages. Through his perseverance and leadership, he grew the company and secured contracts with government and commercial customers. After selling his company to Sophos, the first thing Mike did was commit to serving the veteran community as an investor.

Mike is a model of what the veteran entrepreneur community can do together, and we are lucky to have him on our team.

📣 Announcements

Angel Summit with Jason Calacanis: In June, General Partners Mike and Lisa represented The Veteran Fund at the Angel Summit in Napa, CA.

The event was an exclusive gathering of 120 hand-picked investors and VC fund managers from the U.S. and Canada. We discussed investment best practices and expanded our partnerships with other funds and LPs.

The Veteran Fund also got a shout-out on the top ranking, All-In Podcast! Watch Lisa ask a question for the live Q&A.

JP Morgan VetVC Summit: In June, Mike and Ryan represented The Veteran Fund at JP Morgan’s annual VetVC Summit in New York City.

Portfolio company, Instant Team’s CEO, Liza Rodewald, interviewed Jamie Dimon, Chairman and CEO of JP Morgan, and Dan D’aniello, Chairman of The Carlyle Group as the keynote event. We also spent time catching up with our Veteran VC partners and LPs including General McChrystal.

Shout out to Sherman Williams and Emily McMahan (AIN Ventures), Tim Hsia and Brendan Aronson (Context Ventures), Derren Burrell (Veteran Ventures), Dave Tompkins (550 Capital), Sean Drake (Stony Lonesome), Dan Madden (Squadra), Stephen DiBartolomeo (Scout Ventures), Lenore Karafa (First In), and George Ploss (Netsuite Accelerator). Big thanks to the JP Morgan team for another great event: Hunter Nadler, Ashley Hawkes, Rhett Jeppson, Mark Elliot, and Silvia Kleinle.

Recently-released data validates The Veteran Fund thesis by highlighting the unprecedented amount of capital invested into U.S. defense-centric startups, including new focus from industry leaders such as A16Z and Sequoia Capital: U.S. defense tech startups secured $14.5B in VC funding in Q1 2023, setting a new quarterly record. Q1's tally helped push the total funds deployed in the five months of the year over the $17B mark, more than the sum invested in the entirety of 2019.

What happened: Funding for the industry surged despite a backdrop of VC funding decline due to the global tense political landscape, reiterating the importance of defense startups. As a result, defense startups are expected to rake in a larger share of the U.S. $886B defense budget for 2024.

Where to see the impact: Institutional VCs, such as Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital, that previously shied away from defense startup deals have also begun investing in the sector. Sequoia made its first defense tech investment, leading a $5.7M seed round into Mach Industries. Andreessen Horowitz is the largest backer of Anduril Industries, a defense tech startup valued at $9B. Earlier this April, General Catalyst established a "global resilience" practice to back defense and intelligence startups.

📈 Portfolio Company Updates

Firestorm Labs has built a new category of 3D printed, fixed-wing unmanned aerial systems (UAS), which can be manufactured from base materials and deployed within 24 hours – delivering capability when and where it is needed.

Firestorm Labs was selected as part of the industry team on the $46B Eglin Wide Agile Acquisition contract to deliver next-generation munitions technologies. Read more here.
Secured a $1.6M direct-to-phase 2 contract through AFWERX with AFSOC and the Air National Guard as customers
Firestorm was featured in an article from our friends over at Arsenal of Tomorrow and a government customer has asked for an initial 20+ Firestorm systems to be fielded in an area of the world that is currently experiencing conflict.

Ask: Firestorm is actively developing its lobbyist strategy in DC. If you have recommendations of groups to vet, please introduce us.

Cyberspatial is a cybersecurity company who helps cyber practitioners save hundreds of hours of manual processes to quickly visualize and analyze the networks they serve, which can increase work efficiency by 10-100x.

Cyberspatial is starting two pilots with the US Space Force and US Army, to provide advanced network mapping and discovery capabilities for defensive cyber operations.

Cyberspatial is working on several promising commercial enterprise deals in the OT security and critical infrastructure space.
They released a new product page and new product features: http://teleseer.com

Ask: Please forward this information to any cyber practitioner in your network who may be interested in an enterprise pilot.

Lonestar is a space tech company that is building data centers and communication infrastructure on the lunar surface.

Lonestar signed a Letter of Intent with CDC Data Centers on behalf of both the Australian and New Zealand governments. The governments will be Beta Customers on the Q4 mission and exploring contracts on future missions.
Signed OMEGA as an edge processing customer
Positive meetings with the DOD and DARPA CIOs to facilitate Lonestar’s USG strategy.

Ask: Lonestar is in planning for an upcoming Series A financing. If you would like to connect with Chris Stott, Lonestar’s CEO, please reply back to this email.

Stitch3D (formerly Candelytics) is an enterprise 3D data company that delivers best-in-class 3D data analytics, workflows, and collaboration tools through its cloud-based 3D data management platform.

Completed US Air Force SBIR and STTR Phase Two R&D obligations, successfully hitting every milestone for the $1.6M award. Signed 19 organizations (32 users) to participate in a private beta.
Made several Several key hires including a 3D engineer and former lead software developer, an R&D lead for Stitch3D's mobile scanning application and senior product designer to UI/UX across web and mobile platforms.
Selected as (1) recipient for this year's MassVentures SBIR START "Stage 1" $100K award and (2) the NSA cybersecurity services program which will help bolster their data security and system infrastructure.

Ask: Stitch3D is seeking market opportunities in construction (building documentation), law enforcement (pre-incident planning and crime scene digital twin analysis), survey and engineering (3D mapping), and smart city planning.

Pixly is a Software as a Service (SaaS) technology platform for construction sites and facilities that leverages smart device photo collaboration and AI-enabled organizational tools to document project progress and mitigate risk from conflicts, delays, and safety issues.

Acquired 972 app installs and 4 new customers while creating more sales and partner opportunities.
Pixly completed the Bunker Labs Veteran In Residence (VIR) program and the PenFed Veteran Entrepreneur Investment Program (VEIP) Master class opening the door to promising investment and customer opportunities.

Released new video capture feature enabling customers to capture and upload up to 15 seconds of video (with audio) with the same power of tags, comments, and conversations.

Ask: Pixly is seeking introductions to angel investors for its seed capital raise and welcomes warm connections to building owners, architects, construction companies, and facility managers.

Clusiv is the leading technology platform that empowers blind and partially sighted people to obtain meaningful careers through digital training and employment opportunities.

Clusiv’s operational efficiency and effectiveness continue to be demonstrated by its increasing quarterly growth (revenue cycle increasing by 20 percent month over month) while significantly decreasing its state sales cycle timeline.
Currently serve as vendors in 23 states, while continuing to expand its market presence and impact.

CEO, Lukas Simianer, was selected as the Texas Business Hall of Fame recipient for the 2023 Brett Wiggs Innovative Leader Award.

Ask: Clusiv anticipates launching a $2M seed series raise and welcomes warm introductions to potential investors.

Instant Teams is the leading military spouse community and talent marketplace that leverages innovative technology and a focus on skills-based hiring to create dynamic talent and outsourcing solutions for employers and remote careers for military spouses.

Launched their “Twelve Million Plus,” mobile application, which is the first and only verified community for military spouses.
Seeking additional enterprise customers and expanding their footprint across more military installations.

Ask: Seeking additional enterprise customers and expanding their footprint across more military installations. If you’re interested in hiring a military spouse, join Instant Teams here.

📆 Upcoming Events

Founder Institute Veteran and Military Family Accelerator: The next cohort of our Veteran Startup Accelerator begins August 15th with final applications due August 6th.

Interested veteran and military spouse founders can apply and join for free through our Veteran Fund scholarships. Learn more here: fi.co/veteran

Expert Dojo and The Veteran Fund Vegas Investor Event: Join Mike, Lisa, and Expert Dojo, Southern California’s most active startup accelerator, on Friday, July 14th in Las Vegas NV for an event with investors and founders.
Veteran Entrepreneur Investment Program (VEIP): Our partners at the Penfed Foundation are launching their next cohort, August 26 - 29th. VEIP exclusively supports Veteran and milspouse entrepreneurs with highly scalable, startup companies ranging from the idea stage through to Series A and beyond. At any stage, VEIP prepares founders to fundraise, and our team brings clarity to the elusive process of accessing capital. Interested Founders can apply before July 15th
Fed Supernova: Join the Veteran Fund team at Fed Supernova, August 22 - 24th in Austin, TX. We are planning to host a special happy hour event with partner, SBIR Advisors. If you plan to attend, send us an email so we can include you in the event.
MilVet Conference: Mark your calendars for Feb 8 - 9th, 2024 in San Francisco, CA for the “must-go” to event for any founder or investor in the veteran startup ecosystem. Tickets will sell out next year, so make sure you sign up early to attend the Military Veteran Startup 2024 Conference.

In closing, we are honored to be stewards of this great community and are excited to help it flourish.

We believe that mindful veteran founders are the greatest change agent to lead our world in a positive direction. There has never been a better time to be an investor backing resilient founders building meaningful companies.

If this resonates with you, please share our one pager with anyone who supports our mission.

We are excited about the path that lies ahead and appreciate your unwavering support.

With gratitude,

Mike, Ryan, Lisa, and Justin | The Veteran Fund

Mike Sherbakov 4/13/23 Mike Sherbakov 4/13/23

The Veteran Fund Update: Q1 2023

As we reflect on an eventful first quarter, we are delighted to present The Veteran Fund's Q1 update, showcasing our continued progress in the midst of a dynamic market landscape.

The recent collapse of Silicon Valley Bank sent shockwaves through the venture capital sector. We are grateful to report that The Veteran Fund had no exposure to SVB, and as a result, we and our portfolio companies have remained unaffected and continue to thrive.

We are proud of our unwavering progress and remain enthusiastic about supporting the growth of innovative ventures led by exceptional military veterans. We have strong confidence that their distinctive backgrounds and skill sets will enable them to achieve success and create significant innovations in the current global conditions.

TL;DR: We welcomed two promising new portfolio companies to The Veteran Fund tribe, successfully onboarded several world-class Limited Partners, bolstering our resources and expertise, and continue to participate in high-profile events, fostering new strategic partnerships and enhancing The Veteran Fund's presence in the ecosystem.

Thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to keeping you updated on our journey.

🚀 New Investments

Firestorm Labs is building a new category of 3D printed, fixed-wing unmanned aerial systems (UAS), which can be manufactured from base materials and deployed within 24 hours – delivering capability when and where it is needed.

This new category of modular UAS product lines promises radically affordable hardware and scalability through the use of open-system architectures and additive manufacturing. Firestorm’s products are the first completely Modular UAS that is 3D printed and payload agnostic to support our warfighters on the ground.

Firestorm was recently selected for the Eglin Wide Agile Acquisition Contract (EWAAC) Vehicle. This $46B contract allows small businesses like Firestorm to develop next-generation capabilities alongside some of the largest defense companies in the world.

The team is led by seasoned cofounder Daniel Magy, whose previous company, Citadel Defense, recently enjoyed a large exit, and Chad McCoy, USAF Chief Master Sergeant with 20+ years of military service at the highest levels of the Special Operations community. Firestorm completed several successful launches, as they continue to build a powerful team of drone and aerospace leaders.

Ask: Firestorm is looking to expand its network in the DoD ecosystem. Please forward this to anyone in your network who might be interested in connecting with their team.

Cyberspatial is a cybersecurity company led by three exceptional US military veterans with over 20 years of direct offensive and defensive cyber operations experience.

Their flagship product, Teleseer, allows cyber practitioners to save hundreds of hours of manual processes to quickly visualize and analyze the networks they serve in minutes instead of weeks, which can exponentially increase their work efficiency. The net result is a fast and easy way to gain a complete understanding of enterprise networks without needing a 7-figure cybersecurity budget.

Cyberspatial has tailwinds in the Department of Defense with a SOCOM contract and is seeking additional pilot projects with enterprise customers.

The team was co-founded by Lawrence Nunn and Ricky Tan, two of the top cybersecurity experts in the US Military. They were among the first Cyber Officers commissioned out of West Point for the US Army, with experience leading high-performance military units for 20 years, spanning combat deployments, overseeing top-secret Pentagon cyber capabilities, and leading incident response teams at US Cyber Command.

Ask: Please forward this to any cyber practitioners in your network who may be interested in an enterprise pilot.

🇺🇸 Featured Limited Partner: Mark Divine

Mark Divine is an accomplished Navy SEAL, multiple NY Times best-selling author, entrepreneur, and human performance expert. After 20 years of service and retiring as a Navy SEAL Commander, Mark founded several highly successful enterprises including SEALFIT, Unbeatable Mind, LLC, NavySEALs.com and a globally-recognized CrossFit gym. He also co-founded the Coronado Brewing Company in Coronado, CA. Mark’s integrated training system–which involve physical, mental, emotional, intuitional, and spiritual training–has yielded unprecedented outcomes and is now taught to executives and corporate teams, professional sports teams and athletes, business professionals, first responders, and warrior-leaders from all walks of life.

Mark is offering a free month of his renowned Unbeatable Mind course to The Veteran Fund community: unbeatablevet.com

📣 Announcements and Events

MilVet Conference: The Veteran Fund team participated at the Military Veteran Startup Conference in San Francisco in February, led by Tim Hsia at Context Ventures. Mike spoke on a panel of veteran-focused fund managers and we hosted a well-attended happy hour where we were joined by several LPs and supporters. We were grateful to learn from and strengthen relationships with industry leaders such as Trae Stephens (Anduril/Founders Fund), Steve Bowsher (In-Q-Tel), and Raj Shah (Shield Capital). The conference was one of the best gatherings of military veterans in the tech industry and is a “must-go” event for any founder or investor in the veteran startup ecosystem. Tickets will sell out next year, so make sure you sign up early to attend the Military Veteran Startup 2024 Conference.

The State of the Global Investment Community, featuring the CEO of Angel Capital Association: Join General Partner Ryan Micheletti and Pat Gouhin, CEO of the Angel Capital Association, for an interactive event to discuss The State of the Global Investment Ecosystem. Register here.

Lake Nona Impact Forum with Deepak Chopra and Global Innovation Leaders: Mike, Justin, and several of our LPs attended the Lake Nona Impact Forum in Florida, which is an invitation-only summit that brings together 300 of the nation’s premier CEOs, healthcare innovators, and global thought leaders. In addition to Deepak, speakers included industry leaders in the venture capital, family office, and technology sectors.

Founder Institute Veteran and Military Family Accelerator: A new cohort of our startup accelerator kicked off the Spring 2023 cohort, led by GP Mike Sherbakov, with 48 founders. The Founder Institute’s rigorous program will graduate the top 10 in June 2023.

Is there a veteran startup founder in your network you would like to recommend for a scholarship? Learn more and apply for our Fall 2023 cohort here: fi.co/veteran

🎉 New Tribe Members

Ken McElroy
Founder: MC Companies

$3B in real estate assets, author, and business partner to Robert Kiyosaki

Resides: Scottsdale, Arizona

Chuck Heath
Founder: Horizon Design

Entrepreneur and investor with specialties in multi-family and resort projects

Resides: Park City, Utah

📈 Portfolio Company Updates

Lonestar is a space tech company that is building data centers and communication infrastructure on the lunar surface.

Lonestar closed their oversubscribed $5M Seed Round!
Generating first revenues for storage and edge processing customers under contract.
NASA changed date of first mission from March to June and will now be going to the moon’s South Pole.

Ask: Lonestar will be opening their Series A later this year. If you would like to connect with Chris Stott, Lonestar’s CEO, please reply back to this email.

Stitch3D (formerly Candelytics) is an enterprise 3D data company that delivers best-in-class 3D data analytics, workflows, and collaboration tools through its cloud-based 3D data management platform.

Stitch3D has opened their $3M Seed Round.
Take a look at their Product Demo to see 3D data in action.
Established pilot projects with the USAF and nine beta customers.

Ask: Stitch3D is seeking additional enterprise pilots. If you know anyone in the drone, 3D printing, augmented reality, 3D scanning, or intel/surveillance communities, please forward this to them.

Pixly is a Software as a Service (SaaS) technology platform for construction sites and facilities that leverages smart device photo collaboration and AI-enabled organizational tools to document project progress and mitigate risk from conflicts, delays, and safety issues.

Strong revenue opportunities. Paid customers include All State Insurance and a 10-year Sharp Hospital project.
CEO, Lee Mills, will be competing in a $400K pitch competition at eMerge Americas on April 20 - 21 in Miami. Shout out to Venture Partner, Carlos Romero, for the opportunity.

Ask: Pixly is seeking introductions to building owners, architects, construction companies, and facility managers.

Clusiv is the leading technology platform that empowers blind and partially sighted people to obtain meaningful careers through digital training and employment opportunities.

Clusiv is driving new revenue and growing 20% month-over-month.
CEO, Lukas Simianer was featured in a full segment on Austin’s NBC affiliate.

Ask: Clusiv is seeking additional PR opportunities to expand their reach to empower more blind and partially sighted people.

Launched their “Twelve Million Plus,” mobile application, which is the first and only verified community for military spouses.

Ask: Seeking additional enterprise customers and expanding their footprint across more military installations. Want to hire military spouses? Join Instant Teams here.

Our enthusiasm for supporting our expanding portfolio of companies has only intensified as we accelerate into Q2, and we are grateful for your steadfast support.

In spite of the headlines and market turbulence, there has never been a more opportune moment to invest in resilient founders who are dedicated to building impactful companies. We are proud to be a part of this journey, fostering innovation and growth during these challenging times.

We encourage you to share our one-pager with anyone who aligns with our mission or is aware of an exceptional startup that matches our investment thesis.

With gratitude,

Mike, Ryan, Lisa, and Justin | The Veteran Fund

Mike Sherbakov 11/9/22 Mike Sherbakov 11/9/22

The Veteran Fund Update: November 2022

With Veterans Day approaching, we’re overwhelmed with gratitude for the support we received from our tribe last week in Las Vegas at the Military Influencer Conference, where we hosted our second annual $100,000 Veteran Pitch Competition. Please take a moment to watch the highlight video below.

TL;DR: Our tribe is growing quickly based on our shared values. We’re pleased to welcome a new portfolio company to our community and global leader Dr. Deepak Chopra as a Limited Partner and mindfulness advisor. Equally exciting, our existing portfolio companies continue to hit key milestones and rack up awards.

As we discussed on our recent Venture Partner call, we deeply believe that venture capital can be used to protect our country’s future and values during these turbulent times. Based on the feedback shared about our time together in Las Vegas, we know many share our vision.

We had an incredible few days in Las Vegas bringing together our Veteran Fund tribe for a special dinner hosted by First Republic Bank. We were joined by our Limited Partners, Venture Partners, Navy SEALs, Green Berets, and three billionaire thought leaders in the business arena. For those who attended, we cannot thank you enough for bringing The Veteran Fund values to life. The energy was a force to be reckoned with. For those who could not join us, we can’t wait to welcome you next time.

The picture above, from our team dinner, will be sent to the moon, along with the Declaration of Independence, in portfolio company Lonestar’s upcoming mission.

Mike Sherbakov, Lisa Song Sutton, Lee Mills, Monica Fullerton, and Congressman Dan Crenshaw

We welcomed an extraordinary panel of judges and our guest, Congressman Dan Crenshaw, for our second annual $100,000 Pitch Competition. The five very-talented finalists pitched live in Las Vegas to Mike, Ryan, Guy Filippelli (Squadra Ventures), Tim Hsia (Context VC), Mark Rockefeller (Second Service Foundation) and Liz OBrien (TFX Capital). After several rounds of fierce competition with more than 120 founder applicants, Pixly, led by Navy Veteran Lee Mills, was crowned the winner.

Congratulations to all teams involved! We’re thrilled to welcome Lee and Pixly to our community.

Led by seasoned Navy Veteran founder, Lee Mills, Pixly won our 2022 Veteran Pitch Contest! Pixly helps construction and facility project managers save time and money by making it easy to snap, tag, & collaborate on project photos instantly from anywhere. Pixly streamlines construction management workflows by consolidating manual processes through the power of AI, data, and dashboards, which helps reduce the overall risk of project build disputes. Learn more about Pixly in the short video here.

We are excited to welcome Dr. Deepak Chopra as an official Limited Partner at The Veteran Fund! Our core values of leadership, resilience, and purpose are rooted in mindfulness. General Partner, Justin Nahama, is leading a retreat in Dubai this month with Deepak, several Veteran Fund tribe members, and well-being leaders from around the world. We will continue to invite our tribe members to more of these exclusive opportunities and experiences.

Experts Say to Invest In Emerging Managers. Brand-name growth funds may dominate the headlines, but an industry secret is that the best return profile in venture capital has historically been produced by the newcomers and at the early stages of investing. Data from Cambridge Associates shows that new and developing firms are consistently among the top 10 performers in the asset class, accounting for 72% of the top returning firms. Source: Forbes

Instant Teams is proud to announce they are #208 on this year’s Inc. 5000 list! Liza Rodewald and Erica McMannes are the only active-duty military spouses in the Inc. 5000 Class of 2022, growing their company a staggering 2,572% over the past three years! Additionally, Instant Teams was the Diamond Sponsor of the Military Influencer Conference where Erica and Liza received the honor of being listed in the Mighty 25 of military influencers. As part of the conference, The Veteran Fund has committed to hire a Military Spouse through Instant Teams and we invite our community to do so as well. Please reach out to us if you would like to connect with Instant Teams to hire a military spouse or learn more here.

Clusiv closed its $2.25M Seed Round led by ECMC with participation from Western Governors University, Jobs for the Future Fund, Strada Education, Techstars, The Fund Austin, and 550 Capital! This is our first portfolio markup and a great milestone for the fund! Clusiv is now approved in 7 states (MO, VT, IN, CA, TN and PA in September) with ongoing discussions in CA and NY. Thanks to Venture Partner Jason Pessemier, Clusiv is also actively meeting with Microsoft leadership to explore partnership opportunities.

Candelytics won the DataHub Innovation Pitch competition at the DefenseTech Summit in Washington, DC. They had a successful visit to MacDill Air Force Base (despite the hurricane) and completed milestones for both SBIR and STTR. The team is fired up to have their commercial shipping proof of concept pilot that will launch in November. They are currently seeking customer discovery opportunities in insurance, maritime engineering, and aerospace, including partnership or sub-contracting opportunities with government prime contractors.

The Lonestar Lunar team is hard at work gearing up for their first two missions. Lonestar’s first flight to the moon, the “Independence Mission,” will occur in March 2023. Lonestar is working closely with its partners at Cape Canaveral in support of the mission and recently received a signed contract from the State of Florida as they continue to build a customer base. Lonestar also continues to make progress on its payload hardware, which is entering vibration and thermal testing at NASA’s center in Mountain View. There is a small allocation left and Lonestar welcomes introductions to any investors to close out its Seed Financing round.

Despite the headlines and market turmoil, there has never been a better time to be an early-stage founder building a meaningful company and there has never been a better time to be an investor, like The Veteran Fund, backing these resilient founders.

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

- Mike, Ryan, Lisa, and Justin | The Veteran Fund