Kaila White

The Republic | azcentral.com

Phoenix is now home to one of the few startup incubators founded by and created for veterans in the country.

U.S. Air Force veteran Phil Potter founded The Armory incubator this spring and has been working with veteran-owned startups ever since.

The incubator officially opened its doors Monday at the Arizona Center in downtown Phoenix. Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton spoke at the opening in the first-floor office, which is spacious and flooded with light from a wall of windows.

"The City of Phoenix is going to be the center of ‘vetrepreneurship’ in the United States of America. You are onto something with this incredible talent pool that we are blessed to have here in our region," he said.

Stanton commended veterans' "experience, leadership, passion, dedication" and ability to "get it done." Veterans are 45 percent more likely to be self-employed than non-veterans, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration.

The Armory aims to help veterans launch and scale startups, which are different from small businesses in that startups seek to solve a large problem and thus are scalable, risky and often not profitable early on.

The incubator will provide free co-working space, mentorship, access to networking with investors and more. The Armory already has eight startups, and Potter plans to grow to 40 businesses in 2017.

An idea born in a CrossFit gym

Among the eight is Rush Club Nation, which is best described as CrossFit meets "Fight Club."

The company hosts live shows in which two athletes at a time compete head-to-head on functional-fitness workouts such as pull-ups or squats. The flashy events, with a DJ and a light show, are held in venues such as Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix.

Co-founder A.J. Richards said the shows grew more popular once he divided competitors by weight class, and really took off after he put an emphasis on featuring veterans and people who are missing limbs or use wheelchairs.

"It gave them the first place where they could actually compete for a legitimate title and be recognized as an athlete, not a show-and-tell, not just a sideshow," he said.

RELATED: Rush Club competition pushes you ‘past where you might not have gone’

Richards, a 33-year-old combat veteran and co-owner of CrossFit Mesa, said Armory mentorship already has been life-changing.

Rush Club Nation initially broadcast the live events as pay-per-view shows, but six months ago, Richards's production crew backed out and left him scrambling. Potter advised him to just use an iPad and broadcast on Periscope and Facebook Live.

He ended up with 60,000 live viewers on that event, and 100,000 on the next. Just a few days ago, he signed a deal with World Championship Wrestling former president Eric Bischoff to pursue a reality-TV show on the events.

With The Armory, it's about the "mentorship and advice on licensing deals, things I have no clue on, 'cause I’m a gym owner that had a great idea and didn't quit," Richards said.

Startups of all stages

Arizona Center’s new owners, who are planning a $25 million makeover of the center starting early next year, are providing the space to The Armory for free for at least 18 months.

Not all of the startups in the Armory are as well developed as Rush Club Nation, Potter said. Potter and the incubator's consultants are working with startups in the early-concept stage as well as ones that are going to market or already are trying to grow.

Startup founders interested in working with The Armory can contact the incubator, but Potter said it is already working at capacity and likely will not expand until next year.

Successful businesspeople, lawyers and startup experts also can reach out to be considered to join the mentorship team by visiting armoryup.org.

The Armory

Where: Arizona Center, 455 N Third St., Suite 1010, Phoenix, Ariz. 85004

Website:armoryup.org