DAV Patriot Boot Camp Offers Veterans $10,000 in Non-Dilutive Pitch Prizes

By Olivia Hart

Veteran entrepreneurs can compete for up to $10,000 in non-dilutive funding at the next DAV Patriot Boot Camp, which runs Feb. 17-19 at DAV headquarters near Cincinnati. Applications close Jan. 18, or earlier if all seats are filled, according to VA News.

The three-day program offers training, mentoring and networking for Veterans and military spouses building businesses. Selected participants can also enter DAV Patriots Pitch, a "Shark Tank"-style contest where they present business ideas to a panel of Veteran investors, industry experts and successful entrepreneurs. The prize money is non-dilutive, meaning founders keep full ownership of their companies.

Applications are open at patriotbootcamp.org.

What does the program actually deliver?

The program's own marketing promises training and connections. The more testable claim is what alumni do afterward.

Katherine Pratt offers one data point. Connections she made through the boot camp helped her create a nonprofit that connects Veterans with financial literacy and wellness resources. One fellow alumnus now sits on the nonprofit's board. A cohort mentor who is a licensed therapist serves as its mental health liaison. Pratt also stays in regular contact with other alumni and mentors.

"I would say Patriot Boot Camp really invigorated me to double down—like really double down," Pratt said.

One graduate's network does not prove a program's value across cohorts. But DAV's own director points to alumni collaboration as a core measure of success.

"Watching our program alumni collaborate and make even greater impacts by working together is incredibly rewarding," said Matthew Feldhaus, director of DAV Patriot Boot Camp. "That sense of community is critical to the success of our program and the larger Veteran entrepreneur space."

The takeaway: DAV positions the boot camp's value less in its curriculum than in the network it builds among Veteran founders.

How did Pratt turn the program into a business?

Pratt has long felt called to serve Veterans, inspired by her military family and her husband's time as an Army Ranger. That background, by itself, is not a business plan.

In 2025, she paired the commitment with more than two decades of corporate financial-sector experience. She retired from what she called her "big girl" job and founded Synergistic Credit Union Solutions, a consulting firm that helps credit unions better understand and serve the Veteran community.

Soon after founding the firm, she discovered DAV Patriot Boot Camp. Through her cohort, she met two Veteran founders who helped her expand her reach by creating the nonprofit. Pratt frames the nonprofit's focus on financial literacy and wellness as critical to overall well-being and suicide prevention.

The program connects founders with people from across the country and across industries, including mentors who volunteer their time to help entrepreneurs succeed. Not all of those relationships will convert into board seats and nonprofit partnerships, as Pratt's did.

For Pratt, the value of those relationships comes down to a simple idea: "Iron sharpens iron."

The takeaway: the boot camp's stated payoff is durable peer relationships, and Pratt's case shows one concrete route from cohort to nonprofit boardroom.

What should applicants weigh?

The application window is short: roughly four weeks from the announcement to the Jan. 18 cutoff, and seats may go sooner. Applicants who want the pitch contest's $10,000 in non-dilutive prizes must first be selected for the program.

VA notes, in its own editor's disclaimer, that sharing non-VA information does not constitute an endorsement of products and services, and advises Veterans to verify information with the organization offering. That caveat is worth heeding before any application.

For Veteran founders and military spouses seeking funding and a national network, the Feb. 17-19 session near Cincinnati offers a concrete, no-equity stake: apply by Jan. 18, or until the seats run out.