This month in honor of Black History Month we proudly celebrate #BlackExcellence in tech, as we continue to support Black veterans and military spouses in tech and entrepreneurship. Learn about their journeys, challenges, success, and advice on how they landed their roles in the tech industry and entrepreneurship through some of their success stori...
Ten years ago, Katherine Webster with the help of Craig Newmark, started VetsinTech with a vision of connecting veterans and military spouses with the tech ecosystem and providing them with the employment and entrepreneurship opportunities they deserve. Over the years, the organization has grown to include veteran-led chapters across the U.S. and t...
As we welcome the new year, we would like to share some of the goals we have set for ourselves here at VetsinTech. This year we hope to build on past successes and continue to deliver on our goals to support veterans and military spouses in the areas of employment, education, engagement, and entrepreneurship. Here is some of what we hope to accompl...
SAN FRANCISCO, May 20, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- VetsinTech, a leading national non-profit dedicated to advancing career opportunities for veterans in the tech industry, announced it is teaming with Google Cloud to help veterans hone their cloud engineering skills. VetsinTech and Google Cloud will offer veterans and their spouses an opportunity to participate in the "Google Cloud Certification challenge," a free training program focused on preparing them for the Google Cloud Associate Cloud Engineer certification exam. Exclusive free access to Google Cloud's training prepares veterans for the certification exam.
Training is set to begin in the first week of June and extend over the course of 6 to 10-weeks. Google Cloud offers the training and exams online, enabling participants to access prescribed coursework anytime via the web or a mobile device.
For the last several years, cloud computing skills continue to remain as some of the highest in demand by employers. Google Cloud skills are especially in high demand, with a 66.74% increase in job listings over the past year. Cloud certifications are a great way for veterans to demonstrate in-demand skills to the larger IT market. Veterans who earn this certification have a stronger advantage to pursue new opportunities and progress within the tech industry.
"With May being Military Appreciation Month, VetsInTech is proud to introduce expanded online training options for our brave and deserving veterans. We'd like to thank Google Cloud for their continuing commitment, generosity, and support of our veterans," said Katherine Webster, Founder and CEO of VetsinTech. "During this pandemic and economic crisis, veterans have the opportunity to take this invaluable course remotely, from their home, to increase their skills and land a better job. With the demand for more cloud skills and many veterans sheltering in place, the timing of this program is impeccable."
About VetsInTech Based in San Francisco, with more than 30,000 vets strong and 15 chapters across the country, VetsInTech is the leading national non-profit devoted 100% to springboarding veterans into tech careers. VetsinTech harnesses the national technology ecosystem to benefit veterans returning from active military duty and who want to apply their exceptional training, skills, and experience to a new career in technology. Comprised of technology industry leaders and former service members, VetsinTech is the only non-profit that supports our veterans through tech-based programs and opportunities in education, employment, and entrepreneurship. For more information, interested parties can visit www.vetsintech.co.
VetsInTech Unveils New Online Mentoring System to Support and Engage Veterans During COVID-19 Crisis
SAN FRANCISCO, June 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- VetsinTech, the leading national non-profit dedicated to advancing career opportunities for veterans in the tech industry, unveiled a new mentoring system that squarely helps veterans during the COVID-19 crisis and beyond. VetsinTech Mentorship Program pairs veterans with top technology mentors based on their relevant knowledge and skills. At the onset, the mentor and mentee will calibrate mentorship sessions aimed at giving veterans highly tangible outcomes and next steps on their path to success.
The program augments VetsinTech's (ViT) existing programs, providing veterans valuable one-one-one access to top technology mentors, who can provide tailored guidance and expertise in education, employment, and entrepreneurship. For the launch of the ViT Mentoring Program, more than ten industry-leading technology companies have committed to participate. This includes BMC, Cloudera, Google, InfoSec Institute, Microsoft, PwC, and TIBCO.
"It's an honor and privilege to support transitioning veterans as they pursue new careers in technology," said Dan Streetman, CEO of TIBCO. "Access to mentors is critical for veterans and also helps TIBCO and all participating companies build stronger, more diverse teams."
"On the heels of Military Appreciation Month, we wanted to do something really impactful to support our brave veterans. We're thrilled to provide this new robust, mentoring system for our veterans to use, especially during the ongoing Covid crisis and shelter-in-place mandates," said Katherine Webster, Founder and CEO of VetsinTech. "We're humbled and indebted to the generosity and support from all of the technology leaders participating in VetsinTech's Mentorship Program."
For more information about VetsinTech's Mentorship Program, interested parties can visit https://mentor.vetsintech.co/.
About VetsInTech
Based in San Francisco, with more than 30,000 vets strong and 15 chapters across the country, VetsInTech is the leading national non-profit devoted 100% to springboarding veterans into tech careers. VetsinTech harnesses the national technology ecosystem to benefit veterans returning from active military duty and who want to apply their exceptional training, skills, and experience to a new career in technology. Comprised of technology industry leaders and former service members, VetsinTech is the only non-profit that supports our veterans through tech-based programs and opportunities in education, employment, and entrepreneurship. For more information, interested parties can visit www.vetsintech.co.
Press Contact:
Carmen Hughes
Ignite X
650.4534.8553
San Francisco, CA, October 11, 2022 — VetsinTech, the leading national non-profit dedicated to supporting veterans through tech-based programs and opportunities in education, employment, and entrepreneurship, announced the top finalists in its 2022 Startup Pitch Competition. The event is hosted by VetsinTech and sponsored by JPMorgan Chase, Oracle NetSuite, and AWS Startups. The five veteran, military, and spouse-owned startups named will advance to the concluding round of the tech startup pitch competition. Winners will be selected from the five advancing companies in the final phase that will take place via a live, virtual pitch competition on October 13, 2022.
The five veteran, military and spouse-owned startups that are advancing are:
- Grapefruit Health
Grapefruit Health is addressing the massive staffing shortage in healthcare by creating the first and only workforce composed of clinical students who perform work remotely on behalf of healthcare organizations.
https://www.grapefruit.health/ - Parlay
Parlay is a financial education SaaS that creates alternative credit decisioning data to help mission-driven lenders rapidly underwrite loan applications from underrepresented borrowers.
https://www.parlay.finance - Native
Native is a secure platform for multilingual messaging that creates access to opportunity by empowering people to communicate in the language they know best.
https://www.nativechats.com - Voi
Voi provides AI-driven solutions that identify suicide risk, prevent suicides, and solve behavioral healthcare challenges.
https://www.voi.health - Zimba
Zimba develops automated core banking software for financial institutions in emerging markets, so they can be more efficient in helping people and businesses.
https://zimba.io
To be eligible to compete in VetsinTech’s startup pitch competition, each business must be an early-stage startup founded by veterans or military spouses and ideally offering innovative products or services that are filling a big gap in the market. Companies’ diversity, equity and inclusion, and social impact efforts are also considered. Cash prizes are awarded to the top winners as follows:
- 1st place prize: $25,000
- 2nd place prize: $10,000
- 3rd place prize: $5,000
Veterans own only around 10% of U.S businesses and through events like these and programs like the NetSuite Accelerator we are hoping to not only show our support for these businesses but be a champion for their future,” said George Ploss, Director of Oracle NetSuite Accelerator. “NetSuite has a long history of supporting the Veteran community, including our recruiting program SuiteVets, and we’re honored to play a small part in their incredible journeys.”
“We’re thrilled to be hosting our 2nd annual tech startup pitch competition and recognizing some of the most promising early-stage veteran and military spouse startups. We congratulate the five finalist companies who have progressed to this stage of the competition,” said VetsinTech Founder and CEO Katherine Webster. “This event is a great opportunity to showcase the amazing work that our veteran and military spouse entrepreneurs are doing in the tech industry and to celebrate their successes.”
SAN FRANCISCO, June 24, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- VetsinTech (ViT), the leading national non-profit dedicated to advancing career and entrepreneurship opportunities for veterans in the tech industry, announced the top three winners of its pitch competition event. Hosted by VetsinTech and sponsored by JPMorgan Chase, Arms Cyber Defense was selected from a remaining field of five veteran, military and spouse-owned startup finalists as the grand prize winner in a live, virtual pitch competition that took place yesterday, June 23rd.
Arms Cyber (Autonomous Resilient Management Solutions) provides a proactive defense approach to mitigate IT security risks before they happen by randomizing code to stop memory corruption zero day attacks.
"We are honored and excited to be recognized for our innovative cybersecurity solutions. The other finalists pitching tonight were outstanding, and we're privileged to pitch alongside best-in-class, military veteran startups. Thank you to VetsInTech and JPMorgan Chase for their ongoing support and investment in military veteran startups," said Michael Bryant, Co-Founder and CEO of Arms Cyber.
CommSafe AI came in second place and was awarded $10,000. CommSafe AI provides a communication analysis solution designed to help companies protect their most valuable assets - their people and their IP. Coming in third place was Wealth Stack that was awarded $5,000. The company provides a video-based investment and financial wellness platform focused on millennial and diverse communities.
Participation criteria required that businesses be founded by veterans or military spouses and ideally offer a tech solution relevant to financial services, including cybersecurity, AI and machine learning. Companies' diversity, equity and inclusion as well as social impact efforts were also strongly considered.
In addition to prize money, these companies will have the opportunity for mentorship from senior leaders across JPMorgan Chase.
Veteran entrepreneurs play a pivotal role in fueling the country's economic engine, generating $1.14 trillion dollars in annual revenues. Approximately 9.1% of U.S. businesses are veteran-owned and employ more than 5 million people. Yet, according to the Kauffman Foundation, since World War II, veteran entrepreneurship has steadily declined from 49% to just 5% today. This is largely due to a lack of business tools and resources—building a network, finding a mentor, accessing capital are all particularly challenging coming right out of the military.
"Many don't realize that an entrepreneurial spirit is implicit in military service—both for the service members and their spouses. Military life involves constant flexibility, organization, gaining trust in new settings, which are all critical skills for building a business," says Mark Elliott. "We are thrilled for these winning companies and what they can bring to their industries, and we look forward to continuing to support them on the road ahead."
"This was a one-of-a-kind opportunity to showcase the most promising veteran and military spouse-owned businesses and shine a light on the high caliber of their startups. The support from JPMorgan Chase made this event possible and an overwhelming success. This event helps grow the VetsinTech S.U.N. (startup network) ecosystem and inspire the network of investors, trusted advisors and service providers to support this important cause. We look forward to future collaborations with JPMorgan Chase to continue supporting veteran and military spouse-owned businesses," said Katherine Webster, founder and CEO of VetsinTech.
Over the years, VetsinTech has supported veteran entrepreneurs, equipping them with extensive mentorship and recently launched the VetsinTech S.U.N. Startup Network to support veteran and military spouse entrepreneurs build high growth technology companies. The range of initiatives that VetsinTech provides includes frequent workshops, bootcamps, hackathons, and virtual office hours. This business pitch competition extends the support and numerous initiatives that VetsinTech offers.
About VetsInTech
Based in San Francisco, with more than 50,000 vets strong and 20 chapters across the country, VetsInTech is the leading national non-profit devoted 100% to springboarding veterans into tech careers. VetsinTech harnesses the national technology ecosystem to benefit veterans returning from active military duty and who want to apply their exceptional training, skills, and experience to a new technology career. Comprising technology industry leaders and former service members, VetsinTech is the only non-profit supporting our veterans through tech-based programs and opportunities in education, employment, and entrepreneurship. For more information, interested parties can visitwww.vetsintech.co.
About JPMorgan Chase's Commitment to Service Members and Veterans
JPMorgan Chase, a leading global financial services firm with assets of $3.7 trillion and operations worldwide, has supported our veterans since before World War I. Since establishing the Office of Military and Veterans Affairs in 2011, the firm has hired more than 16,000 veterans; facilitated more than 680,000 veteran hires through the Veteran Jobs Mission coalition; awarded more than 1,050 mortgage-free homes to military families in need; and helped nearly 50,000 participants enroll in Onward to Opportunity, a free career training program of the Institute for Veterans and Military Families, which was co-founded and is supported by JPMorgan Chase and Syracuse University. Learn more at: www.jpmorganchase.com/veterans.
San Francisco, CA, November 10, 2021 - VetsinTech, the leading national non-profit dedicated to advancing career and entrepreneurship opportunities for veterans in the tech industry, announced the recipients of its annual awards. Each year, VetsinTech recognizes companies that have made the most significant impact on education, employment and entrepreneurship throughout 2021. VetsinTech announced award recipients during a global broadcast of VetsinTech's annual fundraising Gala (https://vetsintech.co/watch) that honors Veterans Day.
"We are so thankful for the ongoing commitment and support that our wonderful sponsors and partners give us throughout the year. It's through their support that we're able to meet our goals of helping veterans. 2021 has been another incredible year, but we have a lot more work to be done in improving our ecosystem," noted Katherine Webster, Founder and CEO of VetsinTech. "It is always such a pleasure to be able to provide a spotlight to our annual award recipients as they go above and beyond the call of duty to support our current and existing veterans and military spouses."
2021 VETSINTECH AWARD RECIPIENTS For Education: IBM Z EcosystemIBM Z Ecosystem was a standout partner with VetsinTech. Meredith Stowell, Vice President of IBM Z Ecosystem, noted, "On behalf of IBM, thank you so much for this education award! We're excited to work with VetsinTech to get even more Veterans and Military Spouses trained in IBM Z, enterprise, computing, system administration, application development, cyber security data, AI, and so much more. We'll continue to work together through IBM Skills Build and expand access to digital skills and employment opportunities. What an incredible honor. Thank you!"
Employer of the Year: Booz Allen HamiltonBooz Allen Hamilton took top honors this year as Employer of the Year for opening up an abundance of technical avenues and opportunities that challenge and inspire the veteran community. Laura Schmiegel, Head of Military and Veteran Affairs, said, "Booz Allen is honored to receive the VetsinTech Employer Award. Our critical work in Cybersecurity, Analytics, Artificial Intelligence and Digital Engineering requires hard tech skills as well as the mission knowledge, leadership and collaboration that the military provides. VetsinTech sits at the heart of what we do, and we are impressed with the talented members that make up this organization."
Woman Veteran of the Year: Jennifer JJ Snow, Lieutenant ColonelAfter being presented with Women Veteran of the Year, Jennifer JJ Snow, Lieutenant Colonel and CTO of AFWERX Fusion stated, "I'd like to extend a big heartfelt thanks to the VetsinTech team! This is such a tremendous honor. VetsinTech provides an educational pathway that fully supports our veterans as they transition onto their next chapter. Veterans are able to leverage the unique skills they developed during their military service and begin to apply them to a nationwide technology ecosystem.So, not only are they able to use what they've learned and continue to do beyond their military service, but they're still making a positive difference. I'm very much looking forward to becoming part of the VetsinTech team as I transition out in 2022."
“VetsInTech is a much needed veteran entrepreneurship initiative here in the ‘Innovation Capital of the World,’ combining three of my priorities: jobs, vets, and technology,” said San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee. “Returning men and woman who have served our country deserve a chance to get the good jobs in our new innovation economy.”
SF groups help veterans with jobs, permanent housing.
Read the Article: ABC 7 News
And Its Winner, Bugl.co [TCTV]
Read the Article: TechCrunch
A LinkedIn For The Military (And Life After)
Read the Article: TechCrunch
“Veterans, meet tech jobs: VetsinTech program launches this week”
Read the Article: Venture Beat
Veterans In Technology: Silicon Valley Taps The Military For The Next Wave Of Startup Power (PHOTOS).
Read the Article: The Huffington Post
Chris Galy is the Chief People Officer at Ten-X
Read the Article: Tex-X
Read the Article: Reporting Texas
