Patriot Boot Camp helps Veterans grow tech start-ups

Basic Training — often called boot camp — introduces new service members to military life and customs. Boot camp “accelerates” a citizen’s transformation to a soldier, sailor, airman or marine.

A Colorado-based company, Techstars Accelerator, created Patriot Boot Camp (PBC) to help service members transition out of the military. More importantly, PBC helps transitioning service members and entrepreneurial Veterans turn their business ideas into tech start-ups.

Patriot Boot Camp founder Taylor McLemore address the Veteran entrepreneurs

The 15th installment of Patriot Boot Camp was held in Lehi, Utah on August 23-25, 2019. Veterans, active duty service members, and military spouses with business ideas or existing businesses gathered for three days to learn from industry leaders. The event was hosted MX Data, and sponsored by MetLife Foundation, USAA, and Jared Polis Foundation.

The PBC connected the event’s attendees to a community of over fifty mentors–many of whom traveled from across the nation to make entrepreneurship tangible. A testament to the dedication and belief in this program was that the mentors all volunteered their time, at their own expense, to provide one-on-one mentoring.

More than 850 Veterans have gone through the program, and they have hired over 1,600 employees and raised $100 million in venture capital while generating millions in revenue.

By the numbers

• Jobs created: 1,600+
• Hours of mentorship: 2,500+
• Alumni entrepreneurs: 850+
• Entrepreneurs attending PBC Utah: Coming from 23 states, one from Austria
• Capital raised by alumni: $100 million
• Diversity: 50% service-connected, disabled Veteran-owned business
• Female founders: 23%

According to an article in TechCrunch, PBC graduates show “…that startups aren’t the sort of crazy risk that they first appear. Indeed, after what many of these men and women have just been through, it may not be all that daunting of a next mission after all.”

PBC is open to all active duty service members, Veterans, and military spouses. To learn more, visit https://patriotbootcamp.org/program

David Francavilla is a field representative for the Veterans Experience Office. David is a retired Army colonel, and has served in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo, and six short tours in Saudi Arabia.