THIS FRIDAY: March 31, 2023. Join us for the upcoming virtual Invasion 2023 Conference - an annual event that brings together military veterans and military spouses from around the country for a day of panel discussions, workshops, and networking with recruiters and leaders from Silicon Valley's most innovative companies. For information, visit: ht...

On March 10th, the VetsinTech x Oracle NetSuite SXSW Kickoff Event in Austin, Texas provided a great opportunity for veterans, industry leaders, and partners to connect and network. We're grateful for the support of our community and Oracle NetSuite and look forward to continuing our mission of empowering veterans and military spouses in the tech i...

VetsinTech and Oracle Netsuite invite members of our veteran community and our partners to join us for a networking mixer at SXSW. Date and timeFri, March 10, 2023, 4:30 PM – 6:30 PM CSTLocationOracle 2300 Oracle Way Austin, TX 78741 United States

This month in honor of #WomensHistoryMonth we proudly celebrate the many women veterans, milspouses and those in active duty, as continue to support them in their transition into tech as well as those involved in entrepreneurship. Learn about their journeys, challenges, success, and advice on how they landed in their roles in the tech industry and ...

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...

Calling all veterans interested in learning web development. VetsinTech is excited to offer FULL SCHOLARSHIPS for Front End Web Development training exclusively for past and present military service members, veterans, and spouses of either – sponsored by Boeing ! 

VetsinTech will host THE IMPACT at Pebble Beach (Jun 30 - Jul 3) over the patriotic 4th of July holiday. This event will lead into the historical, U.S. Women's Open at Pebble Beach which has never been held at this iconic location. Spread the word and help VetsinTech make with this special women's and DEI-focused event a success. Together with our ...

We celebrate #BlackHistoryMonth by highlighting some of our past success stories featuring Veterans of color. We hope you are inspired by stories like those of Mark Anderson, Ashley Richardson, Jayden Thurston and others who have successfully made the transition into tech. At VetsInTech, we are always looking to feature our servicemen and women in ...

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...

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, 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.”

Chasity Wright is the founder and CEO of Infiltron, a company whose software prevents catastrophic cyber-events and security breaches before they even happen. Chasity enlisted in the USAF in 2002. As an Air Force engineer serving with her squadron in Iraq, Chasity had to respond to a cyber attack against her unit's communication systems, during which hackers launched different types of attacks against the same system, but all at once. That experience was part of the genesis behind her startup Infiltron.

Chasity is recognized by Black Enterprise Magazine as a 2018 TCX Fellow, a 2020 Ada Lovelace Nominee, and a member of the inaugural class for the 2020 Google For Startups Atlanta Founders Academy and the 2020 NASDAQ Mentorship Circle for Black Founders & Entrepreneurs. Chasity has also helped co-created legislation for funding of STEM organizations in Georgia for densely populated areas of people of color.

Chasity has had a long history with VetsInTech. She has participated in many of our VetsinTech programs and networking events, and has spoken at our panels in the past. The VIT team also helped with pitch review and pitch practice for Infiltron and assisted in making investor introductions. We are honored to be a part of success story journey.

Jessica Yoo Perry

Jessica Yoo Perry served in the U.S. Coast Guard on activity duty for 11 years and 8 of those years was at sea. After leaving the military, she continued advanced studies, pursuing two graduate degrees, including an MBA from Duke University and an Industrial Engineering M.S. degree from the University at Buffalo. Upon graduating, Jessica worked for the federal government, including time as a patent examiner at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Afterward, she joined a software company in a senior analyst role.

Shegot involved with VetsinTech through the many educational programs and special events available to veterans. Jessica bolstered her technical skills even more. She took courses in front-end development and cloud computing, which sharpened her talents ever more, enabling her to pursue more technical roles.

Meanwhile, Jessica began networking at some of our online events. After our VetsinTech Invasion, Amazon reached out to Jessica for a potential job opportunity. Although she was short-listed for Amazon’s final round of interviews, Jessica ended up accepting a full-time IT position as a cybersecurity specialist with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

Ariana Ferguson

My journey to implementing self-care as a major part of my life started on the opposite side of the pendulum. My deployment to Afghanistan was a bit of a blur with minimal hours of sleep and a desk littered with energy drinks, but I can recall the moment I received a care package with a natural shampoo that had a strong tea tree and mint scent. This gift started me on a holistic path of self-healing and growth. And therein lies the foundation of Sulh, a company I founded in 2020, – to heal, love, protect, and grow by returning to nature’s gifts with whole, organic, natural formulas that are intended to nourish our vessels and our souls.

VetsinTech has been a tremendous resource in helping me establish my business and expand my entrepreneurial and technical skillset. I attended a VetsinTech Web Dev course in 2020 which gave me the skills to set up an ecommerce store that I launched a few months later. Sulh is an online store offering natural, handmade wellness and beauty products. Thanks to Vetsintech I was able to better understand fundamental business principles including the knowledge to set up an LLC. The knowledge I acquired through Vetsintech was also helpful in terms of understanding marketing and growth strategy. I am truly grateful to be a member of such a nurturing and proactive community.

Thomas Prigg

Thomas Prigg recently accepted a security engineering position at Caterpillar, working in cybersecurity and helping identify and stop intrusions by analyzing data logs using some of his skills learned through VetsinTech. Caterpillar Inc. is Fortune 100 company and the world’s largest construction-equipment manufacturer.

Prigg had grown up in poverty and credited the Army with pulling him out of that situation and putting him on a path to build a career in tech. After his military service serving as a paratrooper in the U.S. Army, Prigg went to college to pursue a career in neurobiology. Then Prigg decided to change careers and go into Cybersecurity to get more financial stability and pursue his interest in technology. “Cybersecurity pays extremely well. Don’t be surprised if your starting salary is ninety thousand dollars,” says Prigg. He contrasts the cybersecurity role to his previous position, which he characterizes as “a low paying job that was pretty boring and provided few feelings of accomplishment.”.

VetsinTech was instrumental in helping him get there. Prigg says he kept taking as many courses from VetsinTech as he could, focusing on building his cybersecurity and cloud computing skills and certifications. “Certifications are gold,” says Prigg, and encourages other VetsinTech cohorts to take projects from their VIT courses and add them to their portfolio. His coursework included SEC+, AWS Cloud, and front-end development. And he is currently improving his Python skills with VetsinTech as preparation for the VIT Machine Learning course.

“VetsinTech has been fantastic and has helped me get critical training that I needed for recruiters to even notice me,” says Prigg. To summarize his experience with the VIT Academy, “I’ve been able to fill in a lot of holes in my general knowledge that I needed.”

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."

Thomas Prigg recently accepted a security engineering position at Caterpillar, working in cybersecurity and helping identify and stop intrusions by analyzing data logs using some of his skills learned through VetsinTech. Caterpillar Inc. is Fortune 100 company and the world’s largest construction-equipment manufacturer.

Prigg had grown up in poverty and credited the Army with pulling him out of that situation and putting him on a path to build a career in tech. After his military service serving as a paratrooper in the U.S. Army, Prigg went to college to pursue a career in neurobiology. Then Prigg decided to change careers and go into Cybersecurity to get more financial stability and pursue his interest in technology. “Cybersecurity pays extremely well. Don’t be surprised if your starting salary is ninety thousand dollars,” says Prigg. He contrasts the cybersecurity role to his previous position, which he characterizes as “a low paying job that was pretty boring and provided few feelings of accomplishment.”.

VetsinTech was instrumental in helping him get there. Prigg says he kept taking as many courses from VetsinTech as he could, focusing on building his cybersecurity and cloud computing skills and certifications. “Certifications are gold,” says Prigg, and encourages other VetsinTech cohorts to take projects from their VIT courses and add them to their portfolio. His coursework included SEC+, AWS Cloud, and front-end development. And he is currently improving his Python skills with VetsinTech as preparation for the VIT Machine Learning course.

“VetsinTech has been fantastic and has helped me get critical training that I needed for recruiters to even notice me,” says Prigg. To summarize his experience with the VIT Academy, “I’ve been able to fill in a lot of holes in my general knowledge that I needed.”

Jessica Yoo Perry served in the U.S. Coast Guard on activity duty for 11 years and 8 of those years was at sea. After leaving the military, she continued advanced studies, pursuing two graduate degrees, including an MBA from Duke University and an Industrial Engineering M.S. degree from the University at Buffalo. Upon graduating, Jessica worked for the federal government, including time as a patent examiner at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Afterward, she joined a software company in a senior analyst role.

Shegot involved with VetsinTech through the many educational programs and special events available to veterans. Jessica bolstered her technical skills even more. She took courses in front-end development and cloud computing, which sharpened her talents ever more, enabling her to pursue more technical roles.

Meanwhile, Jessica began networking at some of our online events. After our VetsinTech Invasion, Amazon reached out to Jessica for a potential job opportunity. Although she was short-listed for Amazon’s final round of interviews, Jessica ended up accepting a full-time IT position as a cybersecurity specialist with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). 

Michael Bryant served as Field Artillery Officer (Captain) in US Marines (3rd Battalion, 11th Marines, 1st Marine Division) with deployments in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Bryant got out of the service in 2009 and enrolled in Vanderbilt University's MBA program using the GI Bill, and later went on to receive a Masters in Entrepreneurship from the University of Michigan, also on the GI BIll. After working as Director of Investor Products at StreetShares in Washington DC for three years, Michael returned to Vanderbilt University to run their Center for Entrepreneurship. It was during this time he met his two other technical co-founders (Brad and Tim Potteriger) who were working on their PhDs at the university. They went on to start ARMS Cyber. Earlier this year, Bryant found out about the VetsinTech Pitch Contest sponsored by JPMorgan Chase. The VIT Pitch Contest gave 3 veteran, military, and spouse-owned businesses a chance to win up to $25,000. Over the years, VetsinTech has supported veteran entrepreneurs, equipping them with extensive mentorship and entrepreneurship resources to build high growth technology companies. The VIT Pitch Contest is part of VetsinTech strategy to highlight, encourage and support entrepreneurism in the veteran and military spouse startup ecosystem. Bryant took advantage of this opportunity and pitched his company, ARMS Cyber as part of the contest. After going through the evaluation process, ARMS Cyber and four other companies emerged as finalists in the contest. On June 23, 2021, Bryant and the 4 other finalists, took part in a virtual live pitching event before a panel of JPMorgan Chase executives and emerged as the winner of the contest.

"We really appreciate VetsinTech and all that they do to further veteran entrepreneurship and help veteran-founded companies get off the ground," said Bryant, “Along with JPMorgan Chase’s financial support, this award will have a big impact on ARMS Cyber, especially at this early stage.

For more information on the VetsinTech S.U.N. (StartUp Network), you can visit http://sun.vetsintech.co and find out how you can take advantage of VetinsTech’s expanded network of key partners that provide access to human, financial and professional resources to veterans and military spouse entrepreneurs and startups.

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.

I am so thankful that Vets in Tech exist! I wish it existed back in 2010 when I first got out of service. I really felt alone, and hopeless in a world that was supposed to be home. I really had to figure things out on my own. And felt that way for the longest time until recently being more active in the Veteran Community. I was recommended to look into Vets in Tech by an Air Force Officer colleague. He talked about a community of Veterans that work in the tech industry. I thought it is great to see if I could network as I’m a Realtor who specializes in helping Vets utilize their benefits to become homeowners. My first Vets in Tech was a mixer where I got to hear CO CEO of Salesforce speak about his support in hiring Veterans. As well as other top-level execs speak about the same or other Veterans talk about their journey on how they achieved success after the Military. It was so uplifting to hear the support, and the paths of other Veterans like myself make it in Silicon Valley.

Even though I was starting to get great momentum in my Real Estate career I heard about the Vets in Tech Coding Bootcamp for Front End Web Development. Something that is still instilled with me from the Military is that the better cross-trained the individual is in taking responsibility for many hats; the easier it is for the individual to get promoted and achieve success. So I decided to take the Bootcamp to have a better understanding of my own Business Website, and have the credentials just in case I need it in the future. Coming from a business background, I honestly got overwhelmed on day 1. I thought it wasn’t for me. But through the patience and support of my instructor and Vets in Tech contacts. As well as the encouragement of my Veteran peer classmates. I was actually able to finish! I haven’t felt this type of comradery pushing me to achieve something when I wanted to ring the bell and quit since I was in the Military.

I really feel Vets in Tech helped me in so many ways as a Military Veteran Realtor. They have helped me network with other Veterans in the Tech Community. Help me strengthen my technical skills which allows me to reach out to other Veterans and potential clients via online platforms. Which allows me to help Veterans utilize their benefits to become homeowners in a not so friendly VA buyer area. Along with serving on my Non-Profit VAREP (Veterans Association of Real Estate Professionals) I also was on the front lines helping the new Blue Water Navy Act VA Loan lobbied and passed in Washington DC. A bill that helps Vietnam Veterans claim benefits that have been deserved for way too long now, and Veterans in high-cost counties like the Bay Area. I’ve now helped 6 Veterans and their families become homeowners in the last year alone. It truly is my passion to continually serve the Veteran Community, and I’m so glad to be aligned with Vets in Tech.