Start Your Mission.
A field guide for the veteran entrepreneur
From the uniform
to the venture.
What follows is the working guide we share with every veteran who walks through our door — a map of the real funding, partnership, and contracting pathways open to those who served, and a clear picture of where Project 1783 plugs in alongside you.
I.
Four real paths
Almost every veteran-led venture we fund is moving on at least one of four tracks. Most are moving on two or three at once. None of them exclude the others.
SBIR / STTR Grants
Federal R&D funding awarded directly to small businesses. Non-dilutive — you keep your equity. Phase I awards run $50K–$295K, Phase II $750K–$2M. Eleven federal agencies participate; DoD is by far the largest pot for veteran-led ventures.
Joint Ventures
Two or more companies combine on a specific contract or build. VOSB and SDVOSB designations unlock set-aside JV opportunities under SBA Mentor-Protégé — you team with an established firm and share the contract on rules that protect your business.
Direct Seed & Grant Funding
Founder-friendly capital that does not push you toward dilution before you have product-market fit. Project 1783 underwrites a slate of grants and convertible seed instruments each year specifically for veteran-led work.
Federal Contracting & Set-Asides
The federal government is required to spend at least 5% of contract dollars with small disadvantaged businesses and 3% with SDVOSBs. Set-asides, sole-source authority, and HUBZone status are real tools — most veterans simply have not been shown how to use them.
II.
SBIR, in plain English
The Small Business Innovation Research program is the federal government's largest engine for funding early-stage, high-risk R&D in privately-held companies. Eleven agencies — DoD, NIH, NASA, DOE, NSF, USDA, DHS, ED, EPA, DOT, NIST — pool more than $4 billion a year into the program. The model is three-stage:
Phase I — Feasibility
$50,000 to $295,000 · six to twelve months
To prove the technical merit of your idea. Roughly 15% of submitted Phase I proposals are funded. Almost every successful proposal is shaped by a mentor or technical advisor who has been through the process.
Phase II — Development
$750,000 to $2,000,000+ · two years
To build the prototype, run trials, and prepare for transition. Phase II requires completed Phase I work and is where the real engineering happens.
Phase III — Commercialization
No SBIR funds · sole-source contracting authority
Unique sole-source contracting authority for the work that came out of Phase I and II. This is where the business pays off — and where most ventures stall because they have not built the right relationships yet.
We help shape the proposal, broker the right agency relationships, and — where it makes sense — co-author or co-bid as a teaming partner. For Phase III we keep a working list of program offices actively looking for veteran-built transitioning tech.
III.
Joint ventures & teaming
A joint venture is a contractual relationship — sometimes a separate legal entity, often just a written teaming agreement — formed for a specific contract or build. For veteran-led ventures, two structures matter most:
- SBA Mentor-Protégé JV. A small business (you) teams with a larger established firm (your mentor). The JV competes for small-business set-aside contracts that the mentor alone could not pursue. You retain at least 51% ownership of the JV and meaningfully execute the work.
- SDVOSB Set-Aside JV. Two SDVOSBs (Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses), or an SDVOSB with a non-SDVOSB under specific rules, can combine to chase SDVOSB sole-source contracts up to $7M for manufacturing and $4.5M for services.
- Informal teaming. Most early collaborations look more like a prime contractor + subcontractor structure than a formal JV. It is faster, has less paperwork, and is usually the right starting point.
We will introduce you to mentor firms in our network, draft the teaming agreement structure, and — when the work fits our charter — Project 1783 itself can serve as the partner, contributing capital, prototyping resources, and federal relationships in exchange for a defined slice of the project. Always negotiated, never extractive.
IV.
How we walk alongside you
Most veteran founders do not need someone telling them what to do. They need a partner who has stood in the same boots, who has actual contacts at agencies and primes, and who can move capital and attention without making it a year-long pitch deck exercise. That is the role we play. It looks like one of three things, depending on what you actually need:
We build with you
When the work fits our charter, Project 1783 comes in as a joint-venture partner — contributing capital, prototyping facilities, federal relationships, and a working seat at the table. The structure is always defined up front and weighted in your favor.
We fund and step back
When you want to build it on your own, we underwrite — through grants, convertible seed instruments, or SBIR matching. We stay available for advice and intros, but the venture is yours. Most of our work looks like this.
We guide and connect
When you need direction more than dollars, we offer mentorship, SBIR proposal review, prototype access at our partner labs, and the right introductions to people who can actually move things forward.
You tell us which one fits. We figure out the rest.
V.
Tell us about your mission.
This goes straight to the Project 1783 team. We read every one and respond within a week, usually faster.