NYU Tandon Veterans Future Lab

Apex
Veterans Future Lab is an incubator dedicated to ventures led by veterans and military spouses. Its 9-month, no-cost Apex program provides mentorship, support, and resources needed to start and grow high-impact companies

ELIGIBILITY
Pre-seed companies with at least 1 veteran/military spouse founder.

PROGRAM LENGTH
9 months. For more information, please email vfl@nyu.edu

What Sets Us Apart

• Save Your Equity: Our program is equity free and no cost. Save your equity for future investors and employees.
• Open Door to NYU’s Resources: We make every effort to connect our companies to New York University’s formidable resources — from its globally recognized faculty to its student talent, data sets, and more — however they would best support a startup’s growth.
• Free Desk Space: Up to two founders in each venture receive free space for the duration of the 9-month program.
• Credit-Based Internship Program: NYU consistently attracts high-caliber students, and we bring them in as interns to select companies for academic credit-based internships.

PROGRAM BENEFITS

• Prototyping Resources: Apex ventures have access to prototyping expertise and, supported by student interns, the 10,000 square-foot MakerSpace at NYU Tandon’s Brooklyn campus.
• A Real Community: Unlike coworking spaces of non-curated companies and individuals, the Veterans Future Lab offers a community of veterans and military spouses who are invested in each others’ success.
• Up to $200,000 in In-Kind Benefits: Startups in our programs receive perks like Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud Platform credits, pro bono legal hours with Goodwin, and more.
• Access to NYU Faculty Expertise & Student Talent: If you’re looking to work with some of the world’s brightest minds, we can help. VFL connects founders with NYU Tandon faculty and for-credit internship opportunities with NYU Tandon undergraduate students.
• Access to START-UP NY: Companies enrolled in Apex can apply for this New York State incentive, which grants tax-free status to startups participating in our program.
• Dedicated Attention: Because Apex accepts a limited number of companies per cohort, you’ll receive focused attention from our team.

Veterans Entrepreneurship Training I (VET-I)
Our free, introductory educational program for active duty service members, US military veterans, and their spouses who seek to learn entrepreneurial skills or pursue business ventures.

ELIGIBILITY
Active duty US service members, veterans, and military spouses

PROGRAM LENGTH
12 weeks.

Almost 50 percent of World War II veterans and 40 percent of Korean War veterans owned or operated their own companies, according to Syracuse University. Today, just 4.5 percent of the more than 3.6 million men and women who have served in the U.S. armed forces since September 11, 2001, have launched their own businesses.

We seek to raise that figure through the Veterans Entrepreneurship Training (VET) program. NYC-centric entrepreneurs, industry leaders, and our team at the Veterans Future Lab offer a curriculum that features a capstone project, hands-on experiential learning, and mentorship. You’ll graduate able to leverage learned entrepreneurial skills into new ventures and career opportunities. Graduates of VET-I are eligible to enroll in an upcoming Veterans Entrepreneurship Training – Level II (VET-II) program.

Curriculum
The VET-I program is held online. The program is split into three parts:

• Week 1: Onboarding
• Weeks 2–11: Class lectures from 6–8PM ET on Wednesdays.
• Week 12: Showcase of participants’ capstone projects to partners of the Veterans Future Lab community. The capstone provides participants with their first real-world, consequential experience presenting their business ideas.

Classes touch on prototyping, customer channels, business models, legal and accounting matters for startups, and more. Upon completion of the program, students are awarded a VET certificate from the NYU Tandon Future Labs.

Costs
All course fees for admitted students will be subsidized.

Certificate Requirements
Participants must attend all classes, complete all coursework, pitch a venture/idea in class a minimum of three times, and submit a capstone project.

Veterans Entrepreneurship Training II (VET-II)
The NYU Veterans Future Lab’s no-cost, skills-focused virtual program reinforces business fundamentals and introduces intermediate frameworks essential to the launch of ventures by US service members, veterans, and military spouses.

ELIGIBILITY
US military service members, veterans, and military spouses anywhere in the world. Program applicants should be graduates of the VET-I program or have an understanding of core entrepreneurship concepts

PROGRAM LENGTH
12 weeks

NYU Veterans Future Lab’s VET-II is a 12-session virtual, skills-focused educational program working to deepen early-stage entrepreneurs’ understanding of core business concepts and introduce intermediate-level frameworks and processes. Graduates of the program will be able to integrate its teachings directly into their own business ventures and gain access to the vibrant ecosystem of founders at NYU and, more broadly, New York City.

VET-II picks up where VFL’s introductory entrepreneurship program, VET-I, leaves off. The objective of VET-II is to equip graduates with learnings required to launch their own venture. By the end of the program, participants should walk away with:

A deeper understanding of business models using best practices and tools.
Knowledge of the required functions of a venture and how to incorporate them into one’s own new business. Intermediate, working understanding of financial reporting and business analytics. The ability to articulate a business model in an investment pitch.

Curriculum
VET-II consists of virtual classes held weekly from 6–8 PM ET on Wednesdays, May 25 through August 10, 2022. The course is split into 3 parts:

• Week 1: Program overview and policies.
• Weeks 2–7: Class lectures and discussions covering, but not limited to, customer discovery, market definition and sizing, financial reporting, determining revenue, and tactical business steps and best practices.
• Weeks 8-12: Building collateral and effectively communicating the value proposition of a business venture.
  Costs

All course fees for admitted students will be subsidized.

Certificate requirements
NYU Tandon Future Labs awards a certificate of completion to students who attend all classes and complete all coursework.