Our fifth annual Showcase was hosted virtually on November 10th to highlight early-stage B2B startups founded by service-driven, high-performing, and commercially tested Veteran entrepreneurs. We applaud these founders as we continue to press ahead, alongside the VC industry at large, to increase access to investment capital for service-driven entrepreneurs.
The winner of the 2021 event was CommSafe AI™ which was awarded $40,000 to grow its business – a cloud-based software solution that helps companies disrupt emerging threats of harassment, discrimination, threats of self-harm, insider threats, and other forms of toxic communications, all which cost U.S. workplaces $528 billion dollars per year. Ty Smith, co-founder and CEO, is a retired U.S. Navy SEAL with multiple deployments to the Middle East.
The runner up was Pathfinder Health, receiving $10,000 to grow its digital platform that provides parents with the resources to help them identify developmental concerns early and seek treatment promptly for the best outcomes. Samar Parikh, co-founder and CEO, is a veteran of the U.S. Army.
Since the event’s inception in 2017, we have awarded more than $250,000 cash and in-kind services to veteran founders who demonstrate an innate sense of service to solve real-world issues by building ideas that are net new to our society. Their boldness powers their ability to turn ideas into action and push ahead with resilience and grit to build companies amid massive uncertainty and resource-constrained environments.
The Showcase was judged by Brian Pope, Managing Partner of Silverport; Sam Teden, Investor at Anthos Capital; and three-time panelist, Karl Hightower, Chief Data Officer of Novant Health. The five 2021 finalists, including the two showcase winners and Free to Feed, Haystack Solutions and Lawn Buddy, were measured on their business model, market opportunity, potential impact, scalability, team composition, and more. You can read more about the finalists here.
Veterans Bridge Home & JPMorgan Chase & Co. powered the Showcase. The complete list of sponsors included: The Hesselbirg Family, Veterans Bridge Home, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Akerman, Brown Advisory, Caldwell Partners, Dualboot Partners, Frazier & Deeter, Insperity, Lancaster & Hall, Lavoie, Novant Health, and TIAA.
Below is the video recap of the 2021 Showcase.
