They didn’t all come to IVMF with a 5-year projection and polished business plan. Some came in with an idea scrawled on a napkin. Others showed up with nothing more than a feeling in their bones they could do it, even if they had no idea how. Some found us because a 9-5 was never going to feel quite right after wearing a uniform.

No matter how they showed up, they found success with IVMF. According to IVMF’s participant survey data, the average veteran or military spouse entrepreneur that completes one of our programs makes 5-6 new business connections, and feels almost four times more confident in their knowledge and ability to grow their business. This past year, alumni businesses reported $8.8 million in revenue directly attributed to contacts made in an IVMF program.

Since 1918 Syracuse University has strived to make our campus a beacon of military support, hosting a proto-ROTC program called SATC, and our Uniform Admissions Program that guaranteed WW2 veterans admission. This promise culminated in 2011, with the formation of the D’aniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF). IVMF has since empowered 100,000 veteran and military spouse entrepreneurs across all 50 states to plant their feet and build something that’s theirs.

That isn’t just a round number, and it isn’t a cattle car of bodies moving through programs in search of more funder dollars. It’s one hundred thousand decisions where a veteran or military spouse bet on themselves. A hundred thousand moments where someone who had spent years executing someone else’s mission started operationalizing their own.

I am 1 in 100,000

The veterans and military spouses in our programs tell us time and again how transformative it is to find a community where they feel like they belong while gaining the skills to give their business the best chance at success.

How IVMF Became The Place for Veteran Entrepreneurship

To get to 100,000 veteran and military spouse entrepreneurs impacted, it’s taken sustained effort over time, dating as far back as World War I. After World War II, Syracuse University admitted 9,464 veteran students at once, almost doubling the student body overnight. For over a century, Syracuse University has consistently looked for where the system was failing veterans, and stepped up to bridge the gap.

In 2007, the Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University launched the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans (EBV), one of the first programs of its kind, helping veterans chart a real course to business ownership. By 2010, that effort had expanded to include military family caregivers and female veterans through V-WISE, which is about to host its 30th cohort. In 2011, Syracuse University formally launched IVMF with founding partner JPMorgan Chase & Co. under Executive Director Michael Haynie, who just this week has been appointed the 13th Chancellor of Syracuse University. 

What followed was fifteen years of building, learning, and expanding. As we identified gaps, we added new programs to serve different segments and needs. Data-driven research informed program efficacy, ensuring they were always serving veterans and military families better each year. The university consortium model pushed the national footprint beyond Syracuse. In 2021, a transformational $30 million gift from Navy veteran and University trustee Daniel D’Aniello and his wife Gayle secured the Institute’s long-term future.

The current ecosystem spans a suite of eight programs, from Boots to Business for servicemembers still in uniform, to EBV for transitioning veterans, to V-WISE for military spouses, and Veteran EDGE and CEOcircle for founders ready for their ventures to scale nationwide.

IVMF programs are built around a simple idea. Listen to the veteran and military spouse entrepreneurs when they say what they need, and pivot toward that need. Our staff, many of them veterans and military spouses, have a deep commitment to listening to participants’ needs and helping them find success.

Reaching one hundred thousand entrepreneurs isn’t a counter rolling over, it’s the result of years of consistent effort and improvement.

The data reflects that in our latest alumni survey, which showed 93% of respondents are still in business. Our 2025 Veteran EDGE participants reported an annual revenue of $4.1 million, while current CEOcircle participants average $20.1 million.

Those aren’t just participation statistics. They’re the result of longitudinal research that has tracked what actually works, programs refined based on evidence, and internal findings that have informed federal policy. When Congress needs to understand what veteran small business owners need, they invite us to testify and share some of the 100,000 veteran and military spouse stories we’ve been a part of.

That research infrastructure is what separates us from other organizations working in this space. Our programs don’t just serve veterans. They study them, learn from them, and use that knowledge to make the next cohort stronger than the last.

The Next 100,000 Starts with One

One hundred thousand isn’t just a milestone, it’s a starting point for the next wave of participants.

In the months ahead, we’ll be sharing the stories, data, and insights that have come from impacting 100,000 entrepreneurs. Not just a highlight reel, but an accounting of the challenges veteran and military spouses face when building a business after service.

We will explore the unique barriers, like how 37% of veteran entrepreneurs report difficulty accessing capital. We’ll shine a light on where the system is failing, like the 46% of veterans that say it’s hard to find or access local resources. And we’ll share how some of the entrepreneurs in our community have found success in spite of it all.

The conversation will cover the decision to start, the reality of rejection, the discipline required to scale, and the challenges our entrepreneurs face to build successful businesses. We’ll draw on IVMF research, alumni voices, and years of program data. Make sure you don’t miss a thing by subscribing to IVMF’s Monthly Entrepreneurship Newsletter.

We’re sharing all of this for one very important reason, and it’s not just to show where we’ve been, and what it takes to achieve the milestone of serving 100,000 veteran and military spouse entrepreneurs. We’re showing how we’re more prepared than ever to serve the next transitioning servicemember or spouse ready to bet on themselves.