SPEAR Accelerator: Health Tech Cohort 2025

SPEAR Accelerator is a three-month accelerator designed to catapult veteran-led tech startups from ground breaking ideas into industry-leading ventures.

The SPEAR Accelerator, an initiative powered by the Veterans Entrepreneurship Initiative (VEI), is dedicated to empowering veteran-led tech startups into industry leading ventures. Each cohort is strategically focused on an industry vertical, providing tailored support, expert mentorship and strategic collaboration opportunities with major industry leaders.

Our inaugural cohort Health Tech 2025 focuses on AI in Healthcare, Neuro Tech and Digital Health in collaboration with the Center for Bioengineering Innovation and Design at Johns Hopkins University. Applications open August 2024 with the program running from February to May 2025.

Program Overview:

Empowering the Future of Tech Through Veteran Leaders.

At the Spear Accelerator, we've distilled the essence of leadership, resilience, and innovation. We are driven by a singular mission: to catapult veteran-led tech startups from groundbreaking ideas to transformative industry-leading ventures. Here, we're not just accelerating startups, but forging the future of technology through the unparalleled strengths of our veteran leaders.

Our Mission: Transforming veteran-led tech startups from promising ideas into transformative, industry-leading ventures.

Why Participate?

Cohort-Specific Focus & Industry Collaboration:
Each SPEAR Accelerator cohort is meticulously curated with a focus on a particular industry or emerging tech vertical, ensuring subject matter expertise and targeted growth. Further enhancing our program's exclusivity, we collaborate with a leading organization within the focus area. This collaboration isn't just symbolic; it forms the backbone of the mentorship program, allowing startups to gain insights directly from industry leaders. The true differentiator, however, is the potential strategic collaboration post-accelerator. Startups may get the opportunity to co-develop, collaborate, and even pilot their innovations with these industry leaders, offering unparalleled product, market and industry validation that can lead to accelerated growth.

Unique Mentorship:
Our program aligns startups with a national network of luminaries in technology—industry leaders, seasoned tech entrepreneurs, and domain experts—to foster innovation and collaboration. Our 1:1 mentorship, both during our intensive in-person bootcamp and throughout the virtual sessions, ensures personalized guidance tailored to your startup's unique challenges and objectives.

Tailored Workshops:
Every week, we host virtual workshops helmed by tech mavens, focusing on pivotal topics faced by early-stage veteran-led startups. From securing investments, product development, market strategies to scaling up, these workshops equip you with insights and tools that are often the difference between startup stagnation and success.

Networking Opportunities:
Beyond mentorship and learning, the SPEAR Accelerator opens doors to a powerful network. Culminating in a two-day demo day, an investor matchmaking summit, and the prestigious Veteran Business Summit in Orlando, FL, you'll have the opportunity to present your vision to potential investors, stakeholders, and industry pioneers.