Bunker Labs, an incubator that helps entrepreneurial Veterans, is expanding their efforts to Phoenix. The nonprofit currently has locations in Philadelphia, Austin, and Kansas City among others. “There were a handful of us who were involved in Veterans entrepreneurship and we would be invited out to all of these conferences and conventions,” Bunker Labs executive director Phil Potter said. “A lot of people are interested in helping Veterans get on the startup route because Veterans make great entrepreneurs.” The concept is that they provide a “national network of incubators” for Veterans. “Someone needs to immerse these Veterans in a true incubator experience,” Potter said. The program is free for Veterans, and Bunker Labs takes no equity in companies. “From the Veteran’s perspective we want to remove all barriers,” Potter said. The incubator also has an open entry and exit model. Since every startup is at different stages, they want to bring in people where they are at in the entrepreneurial process. “We want to let everyone in at that point and plug in,” Potter said. Bunker Labs was born out of 1871 in Chicago and officially launched in November 2014 to give Veterans the network they needed to succeed. “In that first year we helped collectively over 70 companies,” Potter said. “They raised nearly $12 million in angel and seed capital. Three of those companies made it into the Techstars incubator.” Once a startup is in the incubator, they can stay in as long as they are continually moving forward.…
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