Following World War II, nearly 50 percent of military veterans owned a business. In 2016, that number has since decreased to just 5.6 percent.
Still, the skill sets developed through serving in the military — like integrity, discipline, leadership, trust and the ability to take risks — translate well into the entrepreneurial world.
"There's a quote from the Ranger Handbook that goes something like this —'Do what you can with what you have,'" said Jim Rabuck, Program Manager at Bunker Labs Austin and founder of PopSmoke. "Vets have the mindset and resiliency to execute on limited resources and information and move forward into the unknown."
Despite the decline in veteran entrepreneurs, census data within recent years reflects that military service members are 45 percent more likely to launch a business than their civilian counterparts.
Headquartered in Chicago, Bunker Labs opened its second location in Austin in 2015. The incubator specifically supports military veteran entrepreneurs in innovation, connecting them with the right resources to launch their business. Since its start in 2014, Bunker Labs now has chapters in 12 cities, including the Bay Area, Jacksonville, Nashville, Madison, New York and Minneapolis.
U.S. Marine Johnathan Paul Wojtewicz is the executive director of the Austin location. He's joined in leadership by Sabrina Marshall-Wojtewicz, Joseph Kopser, Max Green and Jim Rabuck.
Founded by Samantha Snabes and Matthew Fiedler in 2013, Re:3D develops affordable, large-format 3D printers. Their flagship technology, Gigabot, prints at volumes beginning at eight cubic feet for specialty manufacturers, engineers, designers, universities and hobbyists from over 50 countries.
Snabes has served as a captain in the Mississippi Air National Guard since 2010. In addition to several other recognitions like the Austin A-List Emerging Startup award, Re:3D also won the Bunker Labs Austin pitch contest in 2016.
Marcus Carey launched the cyber attack simulations startup vthreat in 2014. The platform models real-world techniques, tactics and course of attacks of cyber security breaches like phishing, lateral movement, data exfiltration and malware distribution.
Prior to his role as founder and CEO of the Austin startup, Carey worked for the U.S. Navy, National Security Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
Out of 100 applicants, 16 veteran-owned startups were invited to compete at the third annual EO-Houston Veterans Business Battle. Ads for the Road, an Austin startup introducing data analytics to outdoor advertising, was one of those 16.
Led by U.S. Army veterans David Dibkey and Justin Gilfus, the startup's COO and CEO, respectively, the startup develops smart passenger displays, billboards and digital vehicle graphics for taxis, pedicabs and eCab vehicles in high-density areas.
CoolMellon offers a direct lending platform through mezzanine debt opportunities for banks, borrowers and investors with a turnkey financial solution for commercial real estate.
The startup was founded by managing partners Charlie Uchill and Greg Anderson. Uchill is a former U.S. Army Ranger, who served as a platoon leader and staff officer in the 75th Ranger Regiment. He and Anderson are both graduates of West Point.
Ten percent of Sockwork's profits are donated to a different veteran charity each month. The startup sells men's, women's and children's socks, plus boxer briefs through a monthly subscription service.
Founders Tina and Mario Barrett hope to start a trend of Veteran-led businesses circulating funding back into Veteran charities. Mario graduated from West Point and served as a combat engineer in the U.S. Army before earning his MBA from the University of Texas.
This Bliss Transit team consist of logistic experts, military vets who specialized in transportation planning while serving in Iraq and tech execs set out to address Austin's traffic blunders without public funding. The startup provides private, Wi-Fi-enabled commuter shuttles to businesses so they can offer free transportation services to their employees.
Bliss Transit is a certified veteran-owned and operated Austin business and is a portfolio company of Bunker Labs Austin.
PopSmoke, founded by Jim Rabuck, aims to simplify the existing pass and leave processes set in place for the military by automating it for the length of a user's career. The platform provides users an online system for filling out their leave packets with calendar sync functions, flight and travel recommendations and more.
Rabuck continues to serve as an infantry officer in the Army National Guard while overseeing PopSmoke and working as program director and military fellow at Bunker Labs Austin.
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