The Venture Collective was created as the economic engine to power the growth of the Veteran Fund Tribe. We believe that by uniting the top military, business, and mindfulness leaders to work together, we can protect the future of America through venture capital.

Selected founders are invited to participate in the Venture Collective where they receive the benefits of equity upside in a portfolio of venture-backed companies and unprecedented access to a global network of mentors, investors, and partners.

Based upon the Founder Institute’s globally successful Equity Collective Model, the previous version of the Collective has distributed $1M+ to veterans to date.

How does the Venture Collective Work?

When The Veteran Fund invests in a portfolio company, the founders are invited to join the Venture Collective, where they issue a warrant that allows The Veteran Fund to purchase additional shares prior to a liquidity event. As liquidity events among the portfolio companies occur, the returns are shared with the stakeholders of the Collective in the following way:

• 50% - Portfolio Company Founders collectively share one-half of the proceeds. This incentivizes collaboration across the portfolio, while giving each founder equity upside in a portfolio of successful startup companies, effectively making them Limited Partners of the portfolio. This greatly reduces the risk of being a startup entrepreneur while improving their chances of a life-changing financial return. As evidenced by previous exits, founders often choose to reinvest their proceeds back into the veteran startup ecosystem.

• 50% - The Veteran Fund shares one-half of the proceeds for providing the mentors, investors, partners, introductions, access to non-dilutive funding, and ongoing support for the portfolio. The Veteran Fund will build a team of Venture Partners for each startup who will provide ongoing support and resources, essentially building a bench of advisors at no additional cost to the startup. A portion of the proceeds will also be used to fund non-profit initiatives, such as endowments, scholarships, and investments to provide economic opportunities for the military veteran community.

How does the Warrant work?

A Warrant is a right to purchase shares from a startup company in the future, similar to a stock option. The Warrant holder (The Veteran Fund Manager LLC), can elect to invest in the Company at any point within 15 years by “executing the warrant”. The price per share and the number of shares The Veteran Fund can purchase are set at your “First Qualified Financing” (aka your first “priced equity round”), where the investors set the valuation of your company. The Veteran Fund’s price per share for the Warrant will match the price per share these investors pay. The Veteran Fund will hold onto the warrant, which will dilute with all subsequent financing rounds, until the company has a liquidity event (M&A or IPO). Prior to the liquidity event, The Veteran Fund will purchase the shares with cash or through a Net Exercise. The Veteran Fund then liquidates the stock by selling it to the acquirer, which generates the proceeds that are shares to the Collective stakeholders (outlined above). The Warrant dilutes over time, generally ~50% by the time the company exits and The Veteran Fund executes the Warrant.