RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – Bunker Labs’ growing program to help military veteran entrepreneurs is the next Techstars or Y Combinator when it comes to helping create successful startups, says one vet who is a vet getting assistance from Bunker Labs RDU.
It’s no surprise to him that the Triangle group has won two major awards for its efforts.
“Being an entrepreneur can be pretty lonely sometimes,” said Jim Raschella, co-founder and CEO of Off Duty Blue, which provides simple and efficient digital scheduling of overtime, special events, and security details.
Off Duty Blue
“And being a veteran can have moments of loneliness as well.”
Yet that’s just what makes the community at Bunker Labs strong, said Raschella, “because we can all connect with each other through entrepreneurship as well as through our military service.”
Raschella and his two co-founders have raised $65,000 in the last two years since joining Bunker Labs and credits the community for their success. “Being able to tap into the network, and to practice pitching and get honest feedback helped us tremendously,” said Raschella. “We are looking to raise a more significant round of funding and build out our team by the end of 2018.”
Off Duty Blue’s cloud-based scheduling application helps public safety organizations minimize costs, improve accountability, and combat officer fatigue by simplifying the way they manage and analyze overtime hours, and private security details, said Raschella. The company generates recurring revenue through charging affordable monthly department user fees as well as from transactional service fees collected from organizations who request and pay for private security details through the application.
“Bunker Labs is nationwide,” said Raschella. “In the near future, you will begin to hear Bunker Labs companies talked about in the same way we talk about Y Combinator or Techstars companies today.”
