Giving Compass' Take:

• Rina Raphael reports that veterans in Afghanistan, with the help of nonprofit Bunker Labs, founded a business by connecting Afghan farmers to the rest of the world by selling saffron. 

• How are veteran incubators expanding entrepreneurship into other sectors? 

• Read more about the different ways you can support veteran entrepreneurship. 

.U.S. Army engineer officer Kimberly Jung found her business inspiration in a rather unlikely setting: the minefields of Afghanistan.

It was while clearing roadside bombs that Jung realized she wanted another way–beyond her service duties–to rebuild the war-torn region. “It felt like every time we found [a bomb], a new one would take its place,” Jung recalls. “It was a never-ending cycle.”

Along the way, Jung and three other service members stumbled upon a robust farming community harvesting saffron, the world’s most expensive spice. The red-gold delicacy, taken from the tiny pistils of wild crocus flowers, has long been used to enhance cooking and for ancient medicinal purposes, the farmers were quick to explain.

But they also bemoaned how the war made getting what they grew to market difficult. And that is when Jung’s ‘it’ moment came together: Maybe she and her team could connect the farmers to the outside world. But how?“[I realized] business is a sustainable way to lay a foundation for peace,” explains Jung.

With limited resources, Jung and her colleagues turned to Bunker Labs, a nonprofit organization and incubator helping veterans grow and polish business ideas. It was there that they officially founded Rumi Spice, which partners with Afghan farmers to sell sustainably farmed saffron to customers around the world. One ounce of the delicacy sells for $169.

It’s one of many incubators run by and servicing veterans, emulating Silicon Valley’s success in helping early-stage companies. The purpose is not to just give these men and women the tools to succeed in the marketplace, but also to build one of the largest business networks in the country: one that currently boasts 19 million veterans.

Read the full article about veteran-run incubators by Rina Raphael at Fast Company.