From the editor’s desk
Welcome to Commonweal’s new monthly newsletter, Political Capital!
Since this is our first edition, we wanted to lay out our mission and focus.
Commonweal is an early-stage venture capital firm backing founders building companies that matter for America in markets related to energy, health, defense, public safety, aerospace, manufacturing, transportation and logistics.
In these markets, partnership with government can be a critical unlock. Our team includes former public officials from Cabinet Members to Mayors, like Carol Browner, Obama’s top climate advisor and former head of the EPA. Our advisory board includes entrepreneurs who are paving the way in our target markets, like John Gedmark, CEO of Astranis. Through our experience in government and our extensive network, we help our founders intelligently engage the public sector to build category-winning companies.
We invest at the pre-seed and seed stage. In our first fund, our portfolio companies have already gone on to raise from the top venture firms in the world, like Andreessen Horowitz and Khosla Ventures.
Building something? Reach out.
Stay in touch with us via this newsletter, our podcast, and LinkedIn.
Nate, Ron, Harrison & Zac
Market Momentum
Crux, a Commonweal portfolio company, announced a partnership with Nasdaq to allow clients onto Crux’s transferable tax credit platform. Crux is a great example of how partnering with government on problems of national importance like renewable energy finance and domestic manufacturing can help a company scale. Read more here.
Dandelion Energy, founded by Commonweal advisor Kathy Hannun, raised $40M in their Series C fundraising round. GV (Google Ventures) led the round, alongside Collaborative Fund, LEN X, Breakthrough Energy, and NGP. Dandelion has been the leader in home geothermal for the last 7 years. Read more here.
Astranis, led by Commonweal advisor John Gedmark, won a $13M contract with the Small Business Innovation Research program, U.S. Space Command and the U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command. The contract will enable Astranis to make its communications satellites compatible with US military terminals. Read more here.
Anduril, poster child for a new generation of defense companies, announced a new line of cruise missiles for the US Air Force. According to Anduril, “one missile requires half the time, 95 percent fewer tools and 50 percent less parts to produce” than usual. Read more here.
Oh, they’re also headed to space. No big deal.
Palantir entered the S&P500, a substantial achievement and a reminder that government partnership can build defining brands with exceptional products.
Forterra, a startup building tech for driverless vehicles, raised a $75 million Series B. They’re working with the DoD on multiple different ground units and Kalmar ($2.2B/year logistics company from Finland) on AVs in ports. Read more here.
Nirvana raised a ~$24 million Series A building software that shows healthcare patients and providers (primary care, physical therapy, outpatient, mental & behavioral) exactly what a procedure/treatment plan will cost a patient based off their insurance. Sounds simple but if you’ve ever gone to a doctor’s office and gotten the bill six weeks later… you know it’s not. Read more here.
Talk Around Town
New Episode of The Political Capital Podcast
Check out the latest edition of our Political Capital podcast with Joelle Gamble, former Deputy Director of the National Economic Council and Chief Economist for the Department of Labor.
We discuss:
- VP Kamala Harris’s economic strategy
- Industrial policy and AI
- The Biden administration’s legacy for domestic economic and energy policy
You can check out our back catalog of prior episodes on Youtube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.
Thesis Driven
Our founding partner, Nate, was recently featured in Brad Hargreaves’ publication Thesis Driven: The Rise of the Government-Savvy VC.
New Additions to the Commonweal Team
We recently added two new investment team members: Harrison Marks and Zac Geinzer. Harrison joined Commonweal as a Principal. Most recently, Harrison was an Associate Partner at Bain & Company. He previously worked at Schmidt Futures and at the White House. Zac joined Commonweal as an Associate. Zac is one of the top young venture investors in New York City; as an undergraduate at NYU, he founded the Washington Square Angels, and has worked at Tusk Ventures and Candy VC.
We recruited a strong cohort of Republican policy leaders to our advisory board, including Michael Catanzaro, who served in senior policy positions in both the Trump and the Bush White House, and Marty Hall, who served as a senior policy advisor in the Senate, the House of Representatives, and the Bush White House.
