The Veteran Fund

The Veteran Fund Funding great startups led by our nation's heroes.

The Pentagon committed $54.6B to autonomous drones through DAWG... That’s a 24,000% budget increase overnight.Most inves...
06/07/2026

The Pentagon committed $54.6B to autonomous drones through DAWG... That’s a 24,000% budget increase overnight.

Most investors are running TAM models and calling advisors.
Operators see something different: a decision that’s already been made. The government isn’t exploring autonomous warfare. It’s procuring it.

The founders who win here won’t be the best at building drones. They’ll be the ones who understand acquisition cycles, operational requirements, and how to work inside command structures.

That’s not learned at YC. It’s earned in service.
This is exactly who we back.
→ veteran.fund

Our portfolio founders Paul Lwin and Joe Turner just landed a major feature in Forbes after closing a massive $100 milli...
06/03/2026

Our portfolio founders Paul Lwin and Joe Turner just landed a major feature in Forbes after closing a massive $100 million Series A funding round. Havoc is officially stealing the spotlight by beating out massive multi-billion dollar competitors like Saronic in the Army’s xTechPacific innovation competition.

Paul and Joe are changing the game by building the iPhone of drone software. Instead of dealing with slow, expensive shipbuilding, Havoc focuses entirely on the AI brain. This software allows frontline warfighters to command massive swarms of autonomous craft by simply drawing a box on a laptop screen.

The U.S. Military is already taking notice, with the Army’s 1st Cavalry Division actively training with Havoc assets. The company already has 55 boats fully ready to deploy and secure critical trade routes like the Strait of Hormuz right now. We back elite veteran founders who use their real-world battlefield experience to build the exact software required to protect American forces.

Follow to stay up to date on the future of defense tech and national security.

Soruce:

Most people think national security threats look like missiles, hackers, or drones.Sometimes it’s just an app on your ph...
06/02/2026

Most people think national security threats look like missiles, hackers, or drones.

Sometimes it’s just an app on your phone.

A fitness app once exposed secret military base activity because soldiers were unknowingly sharing location data while working out.

That’s the scary part about modern technology. A lot of it was built for convenience, not security.

The companies that matter over the next decade will be the ones building systems that keep working without exposing users in the process.

That’s why we’re paying attention to companies like TERN.

If you’re building mission-critical technology, apply at veteran.fund

Source:

Proud to back them as an elite member of The Veteran Fund portfolio. Fixed manufacturing sites are massive targets durin...
06/01/2026

Proud to back them as an elite member of The Veteran Fund portfolio.

Fixed manufacturing sites are massive targets during conflicts. Shipping drone parts across thousands of miles is a giant strategic risk that leaves operations vulnerable.

Firestorm Labs is solving this by creating xCell, which is a mobile drone factory packaged inside a standard shipping container.

They just closed a massive $82 million Series B funding round led by Washington Harbour Partners, with backing from industry giants like Lockheed Martin Ventures and In-Q-Tel. This brings their total capital to $153 million to take forward-deployed manufacturing directly to the front lines.

Here is why this changes everything:

3D-Printed Warfare: Each container packs industrial-grade HP 3D printers that can produce complete, combat-ready unmanned aerial systems in under 24 hours.

Ultimate Flexibility: Operators can completely customize drones on the fly to handle active electronic warfare or surveillance, depending on the immediate mission needs.

Beyond Drones: The system is highly versatile. The U.S. Army has already used it on-site to 3D-print critical replacement parts for Bradley Fighting Vehicles, skipping months of procurement delays.

Industrial capacity is a frontline requirement for national security. Firestorm is officially moving the factory to the tactical edge to bypass fragile supply chains when it matters most.

Follow to stay up to date on the future of defense tech and national security.

Source:

05/29/2026

Havoc just raised $100M to scale collaborative autonomy across sea, air, and land. Warfare is changing FAST.

The future battlefield will rely on large numbers of autonomous systems working together in real time, all coordinated by humans operating at scale.

Havoc is already making that possible. Their systems have logged 25,000+ autonomous testing hours, collected 150 billion data points, and are currently operating across more than 100 autonomous platforms supporting U.S. Department of Defense missions.

One of the biggest shifts happening in defense right now is coordination.
How do autonomous systems communicate, adapt, and execute together in complex environments?

That’s the problem Havoc is solving.

For us at The Veteran Fund, this is exactly why veteran-led innovation matters. Founders with operational experience tend to build technologies around real-world problems, real constraints, and real mission needs.

The future of defense is becoming autonomous, scalable, and software-driven. And companies like Havoc are helping build that future in real time.

People talk about the rise of defense tech like it’s a straight line upward.It’s not.Actually surviving long enough to s...
05/28/2026

People talk about the rise of defense tech like it’s a straight line upward.

It’s not.

Actually surviving long enough to scale is the hard part.

Most founders underestimate how difficult it is to navigate procurement cycles, capital gaps, and operational pressure all at once.

That’s why founder quality matters so much in this market.

Veteran founders tend to have an edge because they understand the mission, the customer, and how to keep executing when the environment gets difficult.

That matters more than ever right now.

Building critical technology? Apply at veteran.fund

Source:

One thing that’s becoming very clear in defense and infrastructure is this:the world spent decades optimizing for effici...
05/27/2026

One thing that’s becoming very clear in defense and infrastructure is this:

the world spent decades optimizing for efficiency, not resilience.

For decades, most systems were built assuming connectivity would always exist. Reliable GPS, uninterrupted infrastructure, and relatively stable operating environments were treated as guarantees instead of vulnerabilities.

That assumption is starting to break.

The next generation of important companies will be the ones building technology that keeps working when conditions become unpredictable, contested, or disconnected.

That’s one of the reasons veteran founders stand out to us.

They tend to build for reality, not ideal conditions.

If you’re building critical technology with long-term impact, apply at veteran.fund

Source:

05/20/2026

Red flags end the deal. Orange flags start the conversation. 🚩

Most founders think a “bad” pitch deck is the reason they get a “no.” In reality, VCs see the world through a hierarchy of signals. Understanding the difference between a red flag and an orange flag is the key to surviving the evaluation process.

An orange flag might be a deck that needs work or a gap in the business model. These are questions, not closed doors. We can fix a deck. We can refine a strategy.

A red flag is about character and self-awareness. If you are building deep tech but your digital presence feels generic or disconnected, you are sending a signal of low attention to detail. If there is a lack of integrity or a lie in the data, the process ends immediately.

We aren’t looking for perfect people. We are looking for founders with high integrity and a deep connection to the technology they are building. A pitch deck is just a tool, but your ability to be transparent and realistic is what actually gets the check signed.

Check your signals before you hit send!

05/19/2026

Most VC firms invest in industries. We invest in people. 🦅

If you look at the standard VC playbook, everyone is segmented by sector. At The Veteran Fund, we took a different approach.

We filter by character. Our thesis is built on a specific founder archetype: The Military Veteran. We look for the person who has already raised their right hand and demonstrated elite leadership, resilience, and purpose under pressure. We back the founders who put their heads down and simply get it done, regardless of the sector.

When you back a founder with a proven track record of ex*****on, the industry becomes the playground, and success becomes the mission.

Building the future? Apply to join our portfolio at veteran.fund

05/17/2026

The line between Silicon Valley and the Pentagon has blurred... National Security is the primary backbone of the global economy. Don’t believe us? Keep reading.

Capital is flowing rapidly toward Dual-Use Innovation, Energy Independence, and Supply Chain Sovereignty.

The Shift:

➡️ Dual-Use is the Standard: Top startups now build for both commercial and government scale.

➡️ Onshoring Infrastructure: Rebuilding the American industrial base is a top investment priority.

➡️ Defense is Frontier Tech: Category defining companies are those securing critical national systems.

The Veteran Fund leads this movement. We back elite veteran founders who speak the language of mission-critical tech. These leaders possess the grit to execute under pressure.

Secure the technology to secure the future.

If you’re a veteran business owner, building for American resilience, apply at veteran.fund

Address

548 Market Street #52832
San Francisco, CA
94104

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when The Veteran Fund posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category